The Lancer that Saw:Project Freelancer: Part 1
by mrwinner03
Summary: In an AU where the Director had both a daughter AND a son, Agent California fights simply as a capable freelancer, who always remains true to Carolina. But when a new freelancer becomes involved with the program, he will find himself...less than pleased of her. What will he do? In any case, this freelancer will give him more than what he bargained for. This is...Agent California
1. Chapter 1: New Entries

Before Blood Gulch, before Red Vs. Blue, there was…. Project: FREELANCER.

5 years before the break-in…..

Journal Logging #1:(A new ally)

Well, today (according to Earth calendar) is September 22nd 2545. And today we just received a new "recruit" though I doubt recruit is the best way to describe her. Yes I said HER, and I know that might sound strange to some people but believe me, she kicks ASS! Anyways, her name is Agent Texas. Earlier today, she single-handily defeated some of our best freelancers in the program, Agents New York, Wyoming and Maine. And I've seen how Maine fights. Yeah, from hand-to-hand to lockdown paint, she beat those three. Hard.

Unfortunately Wyoming and Maine somehow got their hands on live rounds and nearly killed her. C.T. thinks that the director gave them the ammo. And I don't find that hard to believe. He probably wanted to test Tex for adaptability. Even more unfortunate, one of them threw a fucking grenade at York by accident. Tex managed to save his life with the paint. It's sad that he lost an eye in the process.

Agent New York. Probably the best Freelancer there is in the program. I don't necessarily mean skill but…it's just nice to be around him. Like nothing wrong could happen. Well it makes sense that he's a great freelancer, cause Carolina's REALLY the best there is. Carolina…I don't usually tell them both, but I care for them both. Greatly. It's like we're just one family with the same job.

…Can't believe I just went sentimental. Again. I bet that some people wonder how I'm connected with Carolina and York. Well…I'm her younger brother. Agent California to be exact. This we all know, but I don't like talking about it a lot about it in public. It just doesn't seem very professional. Then again, York's become close "friends" with Carolina and there's no problem with that. He's a good guy, that's part of why he's got my approval for when the time comes.

I should probably write down what I am, what I do, in case I need it later for reference. Like I said, I am Agent California, younger brother of Agent Carolina. I don't like talking about family all that much, so I'm going to skip that part. I got red armour in dedication to my sister's hair. And for said armour's ability…..well, with the right amount of pressure from my feet, I can make an explosive 10 feet radius earthquake, thus fatally wounding all soldiers and disabling ANY equipment/grounded vehicle within the area. And since I like over-arming myself with any/every type of explosive I can bring, as a result I'm kind of like the demolitions expert, thus being the guy that can create big distractions at a moments notice.

Such distractions are very helpful for many things, including battle entry, target destruction, covering fire, and escape. The last one was very important for our last mission at a Cryogenics Research facility.

See the Dakotas were to obtain a data chip containing the coordinates of a package called "The Sarcophagus." Basically, it was supposed to be a stealth mission, South Dakota got caught, and everything just went off. Carolina and I were sent in to get them out so that we could get back. They got the chip, but now the insurrection will prepare for us on our next mission. As a result, South went down a place in the leader board. There are nine places, but that doesn't matter for her. She just wants to be the best.

Our next mission hasn't even started, but I can already tell that there's going to be a LOT of shit going down. And I got a feeling that it wont be….entirely about the insurrection.

Gotta wrap it up, the Director's calling us.

Journal Logging #1: Completed

Agent California.


	2. Chapter 2: Planning the Heist

The Lancer that Saw: Project FREELANCER: Part 1

Many Years Ago...

Chapter 1: Planning the Heist

When the Director said this was a big mission, he wasn't kidding. Almost every freelancer on the leaderboard was present for the briefing. If there's this many of us, we're probably going to be split in teams. Again….this is odd. Usually for briefings, the director would already start talking to us about our missions. He's probably talking to someone else.

Looks like I was right. He's been talking to that Alpha AI while we were on "break." That Alpha…there's just something about that makes me suspicious. Probably doesn't matter…

"Agent California. We're here, so focus." Well it looks like it definitely won't matter now. Carolina's going professional on me.

"Yes Ma'am…um Carolina?"

"Yes?"

"Why is what we're about to retrieve called "The Sarcophagus?" Not that I'm saying it matters…just a bit…weird that's all" And I was really curious. Something named after a coffin just doesn't sound right. It's gotta be named something like that for a reason.

"Look I know that it seems odd, and as odd as it may be, it doesn't matter. Besides, we have a job to. And that job is completing our objective. So ready your explosives. I have a feeling we'll need them."

"Roger that, Carol."

"And don't call me 'Carol' during missions, or in public, or in briefings….in fact, just keep the nickname a secret for the both of us."

"Right. Yes ma'am."

"Good."

Well anyways, we, along with our buddies reported to the director, but not before I heard the director tell the alpha to log off. They probably debated about each other as usual. Well…here comes the briefing.

"Agent Carolina, is your team ready?'"

"Yes sir, WE have our team ready." Note to self, thank Carolina later for giving me some credit.

"Right. Let us begin."

You got that right.

"Agents! Your mission for today is by far the most unforgiving, the most difficult, and the most important you will have ever undertaken in the history of Project Freelancer. As usual, our Number One, Carolina, will be leading from the field. And our Number three, California, will provide any and every equipment necessary to complete this mission."

Time to hear my sis go. "Okay here's what we have. A you may have heard, there's suspected Insurrection activity in this area."

Of course there would be troops down the highway. Best way to keep watch throughout the city.

"Our Intel says that members of the UNSC loyal to the Insurrection activity have acquired a high level asset and are holding it in this secure area."

We projected a hologram of the city, and explained that the tallest building held the package. It's my turn to start talking.

"It's in the one-hundred and ten-story building in the middle of an urban environment. Tallest building in the city. The asset is so valuable, that they have enough security to fill the entire tower and ten blocks in every direction."

"So, lot's of security we have here."

"You got that right Wyoming, but we're up for it."

While Carolina took here turn, I showed them the interior and what we should look like inside the building. "Our job is to infiltrate the building, work our way up to the floor where the Sarcophagus is being held, and secure it."

"The Sarcophagus."

"Yeah I know it sounds weird, but that IS what we're calling our objective North. Continue Carolina."

"Thank you Cal. Look since is a high-level asset, we need to access a key code to open the Sarcophagus."

"I'm guessing they don't keep that just taped to the side."

Carolina looked a bit annoyed at the question, so I decided to take the lead. "It's being held by an official of the program who will be moving in a vehicle along the freeway between the inspections. That's the best time for us to hit the facility. Let me show you."

I showed them a holographic display of the highway. I told them that the red flashing one has our target…oh, looks like I was wrong, Carolina can take back lead briefer.

"We need to acquire both targets within minutes of each other. If we don't, the remaining target will enter lockdown, and we loose our window."

"Which means that we will NOT have another chance at this." I knew what the director was thinking.

"So Carolina and I have made two teams to get this job done."

"That's right California. Team A will consist of me, Wash, and Maine. We will work infiltration on the Package's storage facility. York is still in the infirmary, so either you're supplying explosives for the break-in, or Wash is on pick-locking duty."

"Um, ok I guess I'll get my field manual for this…"

"Hey, don't be so quick to give away my job guys."

Well look what the cat dragged in. Thank god York showed up. I'm thrilled, but shouldn't York be in the Hospital?

"York? I thought you were in the hospital."

"According to 'their' records, I still am Cal. So Carolina, mind if I hope aboard?"

"How's your eye?"

"It's fine. The Docs were gonna let me out tomorrow anyways. Besides, I couldn't let you have all the fun. And you'll need someone to get inside."

I know his support is great, but still I just wanted to be sure he was okay. Wash was even more reluctant to admit, but it's pretty normal.

"Hey Carolina, I'm happy to see him too, but this mission…"

"Hey, if York says he's good, then he's good. California, what do you think?"

"You good York?"

'That's right Cal."

"Then it's settled." I should probably thank the director later for getting us back on track. "York will join Team A and get them in the facility, and California will form Team B and provide cover fire. Team B will also consist of North, Wyoming and C.T."

"Thank you sir. York and I will do what we can to help."

"Back to business. Transport will be two LIGHTLY-equipped Pelican dropships. And Pilot 479ner's reported that we're rigged for fast running only. So no HEAVY armaments, especially you Cal."

"Ok, ok. I got it. I'll just bring basic grenades."

"Good. California will lead Team B and Team B will act as recon for Team A. And once we enter the building, you will disengage to attack the target on the freeway."

"Got it."

"What about Agent South?" I was wondering if she'll come. I mean, I know she's skilled but the Dakotas together are really tough.

"Agent South will NOT be accompanying you on this mission. I am sure you remember the last mission Agent California."

"Of course sir…and what about Agent Texas?"

"Agent Texas is no concern to you, Agent California. Just let me handle personnel decisions."

"Of course sir."

I heard C.T. whisper quietly to Wash about how he didn't say no. It doesn't matter. I figured Tex was coming anyways.

"Team B should be simple" Well that awkward silence ended pretty quickly. "Stop the vehicle, and grab the case. Team A, You have more of a challenge. Mainly because the Sarcophagus is an unknown."

"What do you mean by Unknown, ma'am?"

"Good question Wash. We don't know its size, weight, or dimensions. We just know that it will have these markings somewhere on the exterior" as she made the projections appeared, I noticed that these glymphs were of...alien origin. "Hey, those are the same markings we found at the Oil platform."

You got that right North. There's something really odd about this Sarcophagus.

"And according to the Director, we know what's inside."

"So we know what's inside but not how big it is?" Yeah, I know. C.T. makes a good point, but this probably doesn't matter as well, considering the director's turning to her.

"Sorry, sir."

"Look, Carolina is right. We have our objective. Let's get the job done, let's do it right…and come home safely."

"That will be all agents. You are dismissed!"

"Yes, sir!"

…We all got ourselves loaded up and prepared to board the dropships. Well…looks like its time.


	3. Chapter 3: Freelancer Mentality

Many years ago…..

Journal Logging #2: (Preparations)

September 24th 2545. It's been two days since our briefing before our next mission. Capturing the Sarcophagus…well, that's going to be rather tricky. In any case, we're all preparing like there's no tomorrow. I supplied North and Wyoming with their sniper rifles and gave them enough ammo. C.T. went with the basics. An assault rifle with two grenades. I remember that Agent Florida had a grenade launcher on his rifle. Maybe I should put one on hers as well. Yeah, that's sounds like a good idea. I should probably equip grenade launchers on all of our rifles, along with at least five grenades to go along with. And maybe four frag grenades. Yes, that will definitely be doable. Carolina told my to pack 'light' which means no rocket launchers or missile pods. Man, I like bringing that stuff.

Speaking of Agent Florida…well if there was any freelancer you could trust even more so than York or North, it'd be him. Not because he's particularly tough, nor the best freelancer (heck he's not even on the leaderboards). But he's just really…cheerful I guess. Well whatever it is he has, it's a good thing in this case, said case being two certain female…scratch that maybe three female freelancers that are…less than pleased about what's been happening. Mainly Texas, South, and C.T.

I've recently asked Florida if he could help me out with C.T. I decided to talk to her first. I left South alone since North was pretty much the only one who could calm her down. And Texas…I just don't like her. She doesn't work well with other freelancers, she's even more cold-blooded than South (and that IS saying something), and when she's around my sis…sometimes I just want to wring her neck, maybe after breaking every bone in her body, and then ….

I have no idea where that came from…maybe I'm just over reacting. Yeah, that's it. I should probably just keep an eye on her from a distance. I shouldn't hate her…yet. Oh well, we'll just have to see.

Anyways, Florida and I were walking down the hall, talking about the upcoming mission. As we were talking about different methods of covering fire, I heard C.T. talking to Wash about something. It must have been rather important if she was worried. I think the conversation went something along the lines like this.

"…Great. Hey, how about you go make Carolina feel better? Go pat Maine on the head. See how that works out for you."

"We all make mistakes."

"No! We don't."

"That's the point! We don't all make mistakes. Some of us very specifically make mistakes, and others don't seem to make any mistakes at all!"

"Connie, come on..."

"That's why they're doing all this! These missions! The rankings! They're drawing a line between us Wash. And you're either on one side of that line, or you're on the other. And it's getting pretty goddamn clear which side I'm on."

"No one thinks like that; we're a team."

"I'm not talking about you guys. I mean them. Him."

"The Director? He's given us everything. He's helping us!"

"Helping us? Wake up! Wake the fuck up! He's filtering us! This is a selection process, Wash. I don't know for what, but, if you're not at the top of that board, you're not worth anything to him."

"You're just overreacting. You've always been hard on yourself, Connie."

"Not as hard as they are. Not nearly as hard as they're going to be."

"And don't call me Connie. Makes me sound like a fucking kid. Call me CT. Oh, and the line that I talked about...you better hurry up and figure out what side you're on, Agent Washington. Before they figure it out for you."

I should have known that C.T. would feel this way about the leaderboard. Both of them made good points but for wrong reasons. I sent Florida to deal with Wash while I dealt with C.T.

Since I was the director's son, I figured two things were going to happen. Either she was going to outright ignore my own reasons, since I may be looked at as biased (considering my position), or she was going to accept that whatever I know is useful, and maybe take it to heart. Well, all things considered I decided to approach her.

After the initial rebukes, and fist throwing, I can honestly say that our conversation went rather well. As I hoped, she listened to me as I explained to her how we really are a team, and yet not a team at the same time.

'See what the Director is trying to do is two things at once. Improve individual training by adding competitive incentives (hence the leaderboards) and improve teamwork, which is why we always act as team on missions, even though there's competition. That way, we can fight in any scenario. And when together acting for ourselves, we're unstoppable.'

While this gave her some ease about the leader board, clearly she was upset about something else. Before she left, she told something very strange, more-so than the usual. She told me that when the time comes, a shadow from the Director's past will destroy us all.

A shadow. I have no idea what she's talking about but it must have been serious. Well in any case, I told her I would take her warning to heart, which I did and still am doing. Somehow, I have a feeling that I learn what this means and then regret it.

Well, a lot of stuff happened on my part the past two days. I hope everything went well with the others, mainly Carolina and North. Hopefully now things will be less…ominous. I gotta stop thinking about stuff like this.

So, now I gotta finish up getting ready for tomorrow. Got a big day coming up. So I'm going to sign out.

Journal Logging #2: Completed

Agent California.


	4. Chapter 4: Son of a Bitch

Many Years Ago...

Chapter 2: Son of a Bitch

"Team A, you look clear. Window is open. Start your clocks. On my mark…Mark."

"Sync. Roger that. Team A is moving Cal."

"We copy that Carolina. Good luck Team A."

"Thanks. We won't need it."

Good. Now that Carolina and her team have entered the building it's our job to get the briefcase.

"Okay guys, listen up. According to Alpha's schematics of this city, the target building itself has seven anti-air defense cannons surrounding it, making it impossible to approach by air. Since it's our job to search the city, the cannons will make it impossible for us to search in the air. So our pilot is going to drop us off at the nearest landing pad, where we are going to start our recon on foot."

"What's the catch California?"

"The catch, North, is that from there on out, we will be forced to split even further into two teams. Turns out that the highway our target is traveling by goes EVERYWHERE, from circling the entire city to going underground. It is likely that our target will take the underground routes in order to gain more cover…"

"And if he doesn't?"

"Good point C.T. In either case, you and North will be able to provide directions for us. There are some posts with sentries and information located there as backups, in case things go wrong on their end above ground. That is where you and I come in Wyoming."

"I see, you want us two to capture one of the seven cannons, use that to not only fire upon a few more of said cannons (thus making it easier for our evac to pick us up), but also gain some information from its terminals and draw almost every insurrection soldier to repair the cannons, thus leaving our own target with minimal protection. Good show, those buggers will be in for a surprise."

"You're spot on Wyoming. This will also make it easier for North and C.T. to sneak by unnoticed and intercept and capture the case before the target escapes."

"It may also help draw some of the building guards away, allowing Team A to complete their objective with a better chance of success. Still…we will need a way to group back together and retrieve the case if things don't go as planned."

"I know North. If things don't go so well, we will meet back at St. Peter's exit. It's the closest entrance to the highway from the building, and one of the target's checkpoints. We are going to try to get there before the target escapes. Even if he does, we'll be in a position where I can call for drops. I may end up leaving to pursue the case, so when that happens, North is in charge."

"So basically, North and I sneak around underground a bit, kill some insurrection sentries, find and retrieve as much data as we can, continue searching while you and Wyoming just wreak some havoc on their guns, and hope things work out?"

"I know it's not the best plan C.T. but it's what I got. Can I rely on you guys to help me out?"

"You got it."

"Thanks guys." I'm glad they're with me on this. Their support makes me feel more confident about leading.

"Well then. Let's get to it.

_30 minutes into the mission_…

_We've taken to walking in the less populated areas of the city and are currently making our way to the building. Carolina recently contacted me, asking me how my end of the mission is going. They're already inside the room with the Sarcophagus and are preparing to ship it out. I told her my plan, and while she doesn't entirely approve of it (since it slightly deviates from our real objective) she's okay with it since it will provide them cover. I'm glad that I meet some people's approval, especially hers…_

"Well my friend California, I'm almost somewhat surprised that they haven't caught us. Are you sure those buggers don't have high training?"

"Right…I don't doubt they haven't any training. I just doubt they actually use said training for good purposes."

"Why yes indeed. You don't often see many low-ranking soldiers show more intelligence than their commanding officers."

'Well what about our teams and our own commanders?"

"We're not seen very often."

"True enough. Look I think we're almost there, so we should be ge….um, Wyoming?"

"Yes?"

"We're here."

"…My god, that's a huge cannon. It looks bigger on ground, that's for damn sure."

"Yeah. It really does."

And it was REALLY big. Big enough to take down the _"Mother of Invention" _if those manning it wanted to. And seven of those. Well…we're going to be causing more trouble than I anticipated. Maybe we'll end up going on our fallback plan sooner than we thought. I should probably contact North and C.T. Let them know what's coming.

"Agent North, this is Agent California. Come in Agent North."

Static…two things must be happening. Either our com-links are being jammed and stealth can no longer be applied, or the tunnels are blocking our signal. Either way can't contact them. Dammit.

"Wyoming. We're going to have to call them later. It looks like we can't contact them later. Let's keep moving. And ready your sniper rifle."

"Here we go again."

_47 minutes into the mission…_

_We've nearly made it to the cannons. We decided to take route through the alleyways of large buildings. On our way we've seen patrols everywhere, even inside people's homes. Fortunately for us, the routes of the alleys have not yet been recorded on the schematics, making it harder for them to detect us. Unfortunately, it's also very time consuming for us and we're almost out of time. We'll need to get there fast before we have to go loud._

"Okay, we should probably contact them again."

"I got it Wyoming. Agent North, this is Agent California. Come in Agent North."

Surely they could respond this time. It's been ten minutes since I last tried to call them. I'm hoping they have…

"Roger that California. You got North. Run into any trouble?"

"Not on our end. But where have you been? I've tried to contact you before but our signals were jammed."

"We ran into some signal dampeners 20 minutes ago. We were approaching a sentry post, so a few insurrection troopers jammed our com-links and fired at us. Don't worry, no one else aside from us sees us coming yet. We also had to spend half of that time trying to get out the tunnels, getting as much information we could get in the process."

"And what exactly did you find?"

"Well, the target is preparing a minimal of seven hornets on the patrol closest to him and five high ranking troopers equipped with jetpacks, including a sniper. Oh and there's also twenty insurrection troopers stationed at one of the cannons, so I recommend targeting that one first. We've also holed up at St. Peter's exit, but the target has not left the building, so we're all ready to go when you are."

"And what of Team A?"

"Interesting story. While we were leaving the tunnels, we think we saw Agent Maine capturing a Warthog in the garage beneath the main building, and Agent York on the rooftop with the..."

"The Sarcophagus. Good, this is good information. They're probably already working to get the sarcophagus to the rooftops, that way it will be easiest for evac to pick it up."

"Well they won't be getting close with those anti-air defense cannons online. So whatever you're going to do about those cannons, you better do it fast."

"Got it North. California out. Wyoming, prepare your sniper rifle while I investigate on one of the cannons. We'll be capturing the one with twenty guards, so get ready."

"Roger that old sport."

Alright, let's have one look-see. Hmm…two guys at the terminal, another five manning the cannons, two guys at the bottom of the ladder that reaches to the firing mechanism, another four in the outpost next to the cannon and the remaining seven out on patrol. They're spread out, so it will be tricky trying to get them all at once. On the bright side, they're all in groups, so killing multiple guards at once will be a bit easier.

"Wyoming, how many can you kill in a span of say…three seconds?"

"I'd say about…five. Why do you ask?"

"I'm going to have to sneak around the left side to kill the four inside the outpost. Then on my mark, I'll take out the seven with my grenade launcher, while you snipe the five manning the gun. Then you take out the two guys at the terminal while I take care of the ladder guards."

"Let us take these buggers out, shall we."

So I take my way to the outpost, and as I walk there, someone must have spotted me because he's headed to sound the alarm. I gotta take them out quickly.

"Ok quickly now. On my mark…Mark!"

"Sync."

After some sniper shots and grenade launches, we were able to take them out quickly, but not quick enough because the alarm then sounded off. And on top of that, Carolina contacted me about the statuses of the cannons. Probably to check if it's okay for them to call for evac.

_"California, this is Carolina. I need to call for 479ner! Are the skies clear for our evac?"_

"Yes. Wyoming and I had just finished neutralizing three anti-air cannons. Air borne drop ships will be able to come and go with minimum capacity. The building guards, however, are another matter."

_"Roger that over and out."_

"Well crap. How much time do we have Wyoming?"

"According to our clocks, we don't."

"I mean on THEIR clocks, numnuts."

"Well in that case, T minus 120 seconds and counting down. You know we had yet to fire th..."

"Look Wyoming, just get up there and fire the cannon right now! Take out two cannons and then come back down here. I need to make sure North and C.T. know what's about to happen."

"I can get it done in sixty."

"Fine, get going now!"

Jesus, well now things are about to get loud. Gotta contact Carolina. Again.

"Carolina, how's things on your end?"

_"Shhh! I'mm surrounded by troopers, so I have to be as quiet as possible. Listen to me, Tex just called in a Mac Round, so things are about to get loud on our end. Why?"_

"Well I don't have much time, my team's about to get loud in less then two minutes. We'll hole up nearby the entrance and then retreat when necessary. We're going to take out the two cannons in the process."

_"Good, cause the Mac Round will also end up destroying two more of those cannons, so that will be five, which means now evac can get the packages back to command with almost no damage."_

"Roger that."

_"But you will need make sure you retreat as far away as possible cause once that round fires, the entire building will fall apart. So staying near the building is no longer an option."_

"Copy that Carolina. California out."

As I cut our chat line, Wyoming came back down, probably to report the status on that cannon.

"Wyoming, how's the cannon doing?"

"Well, I've set it to auto fire, so that will allow us to dispose of the guns while we make our escape. It should be firi…now."

Well, it looks like I got my wish about those cannons, but now we won't be able to hold up and await for evac. We have to get out of here within less than a minute.

"DAMMIT! Wyoming, we need to go. Now! I'll contact North."

…"Agent North, this is Agent California. Do you copy?!"

"I copy. What's the situation?"

"There's a change in plans. Now I need you to find a warthog nearby and fast. We're about to get loud and…"

As I was giving orders, North and C.T. approached us with exactly what I wanted. A four-seated, fast warthog. But ho…

"How did you guys get here already? Not that I'm complaining."

"I asked C.T. to keep an open channel connected to Carolina's com-link and report what was going on. We knew what was going on as you were talking to her."

"That's a good thing in this case. Now let's get outa here!"

So as we were driving, we were about to make our way to the first tunnel entrance of the highway right off the exit when…

"Son of a BITCH!"

AN: Hey guys mrwinner03 here. I'd just like to say that I've noticed a lack of reviews for the story. I'd like to hear some so that I could get some ideas on how to improve. If you could let me know, that'd be great. So yeah, let me know.


	5. Chapter 5: The Sarcophagus

AN: This chapter is taking place at the same time as the previous chapter in third person.

Many Years Ago...

Chapter 3: The Sarcophagus.

_As Agent California and the rest of Team B work their way to retrieve the briefcase and shut down the anti-air cannons, Agent Carolina and Team A work their way into the vault to retrieve the Sarcophagus._

Breaking in the building was relatively easy, by freelancer standards. Carolina ordered Washington and Maine to stand guard, just in case any insurrection soldiers showed up. But it wasn't the fact that the entire building was filled with security. No, they felt like someone else was watching.

"Ok, we're in. York, get up here. I need you to crack that lock. How fast can you unlock it?"

"Let me take a look…wow, this isn't some off the block chain-lock or access code. It's a holographic. Best type of lock in the century and that's high-end."

"Can you get through it?"

"Of course I can. You didn't bring me along for my good looks, did you? It should take about…say 60 seconds. Of course you can give me 15…man who ever designed this is a genius."

It wouldn't be that easy to get inside the vault because if one piece was moved the wrong direction, the loudest alarm would set off. This the freelancers didn't like.

"You were saying, York?"

"Ok, I take it back, whoever designed this is an asshole. There, it's done Carolina. Everybody in."

"Thanks York, but do something about that alarm system. We don't need anymore surprises."

"Okay, does saying sorry count as something?"

There were no words needed from Carolina to express her mood.

"Hmm. Guess not."

"We'll secure the package. Set some trackers, then find us a way out of this."

"Moving."

_5 minutes later_

_As York worked at the roof top control panel on sealing the door from insurrection guards, Maine, Washington and Carolina continued their search._

"Alright everyone, spread out. What we need is here somewhere. It's probably something small, easy to miss. Take as many scans as possible, there may be other things we can use."

As the three freelancer searched for the Sarcophagus, Maine noticed a strong-looking gun that he would come to use a lot in the future. This Washington noticed.

" Huh, I guess that um…whatever it is called gun suits you well. It's a good look."

"Quit your chattering, I'm getting a call from York."

"Right, Carolina."

"Carolina, motion trackers indicate that you got an enemy team right outside the door."

"Well then, let's just hope that they're not as good at picking locks as you are."

"I can copy that, Carolina."

"Whatever…Okay guys listen up. We're about to have company an…"

"Boss."

"What is it Wash?"

"I've got good news…and bad news."

"Hit me."

"The good news is, we found the markings we're looking for. The bad news…well it's on that thing."

This big thing certainly lived up to its name "The Sarcophagus" because it looked like a coffin large enough (and heavy enough) to host life forms. This would be an inconvenience for the freelancers, because it was too large for one freelancer to even budge, much less deliver back to command.

"…Are you serious? That's our package?"

"Hey Team A, I got us an exit up here. Straight up the stairwell, door to the roof, helipad."

"That'd be a great exit, but no Pelican Evac can help us while those anti-air guns are out there."

"Don't worry Carolina. California will get the job done. "

"I should hope so…Ok, I copy. I'll radio air support."

"Now…how are we going to get that thing up to the roof?..."

"…York, I saw a window-washer unit on our way to the facility. Can you find where it attaches to the building?"

"Gee I don't know, Carolina. Seems like a tough one."

"York!"

"Okay, I'll drop the sarcasm…hmm let me see what I can do."

"Hey uh, Carolina, what are we doing now?"

"We're improvising Wash."

"Improvising? I hate it when we do that."

"Well sucks for you, cause that's what we're doing now. Now if you'll excuse me I gotta make a call…Cal. Can you report in? I need your help with something."

"_I read you Carolina. What is it you need?"_

"Two things. One we're about to bring the Sarcophagus up on the roof and need at least three anti-air cannons either captured or destroyed in order for us to safely deliver it back to command."

"_You're in luck. Wyoming and I were just about to take out our first cannon."_

"Good….wait you said you and Wyoming? What about North and C.T."

"_We split apart into two sub-teams. North and C.T. just reported that our 'other' target has not even left the building yet. We are waiting for him to come out and are ready to intercept him."_

"You do realize that by splitting up even further, you increase the likelihood of at least one member of the team becoming K.I.A. right?"

"_I know, but it is what I got. Anyways, there is also a garage in the basement floor filled with Warthogs and Motorcycles in case you need to make a quick get-away."_

"Good. Now there's a window washer that we've pushed the sarcophagus onto. It's very heavy, so we need a big counter balance. Any suggestions?"

"_Let me check…okay, according to my scanners, the minimum weight need to pull that thing up to the rooftops is about 250 pounds. I am sure that that isn't…excessively high. And I'm confident that you can find a certain someone heavy enough._

"…Looks like you gave me an idea. Thanks. And Cal…make sure you can get our friends home safe."

"_I will do everything I can."_

"Good. That will be all…Maine, I need you to help me with something."

"Carolina, whatever you're going to do, do it fast." And they had to be quick because the guards were about to break through.

"Got it Wash. Maine, it's going to be fine. You're the only one heavy enough to counterbalance this thing."

"Too high."

"Oh don't be a baby."

"Man, he's pissed. I almost feel bad for the next soldiers who have to meet him."

"Don't."

"What, I said 'almost.'"

"Prepare your grenades."

The Insurrection soldiers welded through the door and bust it open. Wash and Carolina opened fire and killed all of the soldiers except for one. The large soldier walked in dramatically, holding a flamethrower.

"What the fuck is with this guy?"

This guy" fired his flamethrower and the two freelancers dove for cover.

"Whoa, that's hot!"

Washington & Carolina opened fire at the soldier. The soldier, however, had bullet-proof armor and was unaffected by their gunfire and grenades. As he continued his attack, Wash threw a grenade toward him. Unfortunately, the soldier fired at the grenade, causing it to explode.

" I've got this. What The-? Ahh!"

The covenant weapons overheated and exploded, sending Carolina flying back. A fuel rod cannon landed in the middle of the floor in front of Wash. He dove for it and fired it at the soldier. However, the shot bounced off the floor and missed him.

"What the hell? It bounces?! Who designs a gun that bounces? This is the worst gun ever... of all-"

Carolina pushed him out of the way from the oncoming fire and they took cover.

"Stay low!"

Carolina ran across the room, hoped over a table, ran up the side of the wall, and back-flipped, landing on a hanging "purple plane". She shot the flame soldier who, in return, burned the ship's cables. Carolina tosses a grenade into the cockpit and jumped off as the burning ship exploded and knocked the flame soldier over. As he got up, Carolina hurled a Gravity Hammer at him, killing him.

"That guy was a dick!"

"Come on. Let's get moving, Wash!"

"That bit with the purple plane, that was just showing off.

They ran away as a banshee fell from the ceiling behind them. They arrived at the roof where York was waiting.

"Come on guys, let's hurry it up. I'll close the door behind us."

"Thanks York."

"You're welcome. That oughta hold them for a while…or maybe not."

"Let's just get outa here while we can."

"Hey, where's Maine."

"Downstairs, keeping our hosts occupied."

"Dang man, I almost feel bad for them."

"That's what I said."

"California, this is Carolina. I need to call for 479ner! Are the skies clear for our evac?"

"_Yes. Wyoming and I had just finished neutralizing three anti-air cannons. Air borne drop ships will be able to come and go with minimum capacity. The building guards, however, are another matter."_

"Roger that over and out."

"479ner, this is Team Alpha! We need evac on the roof now!"

"Roger that, I am on my way."

"Uh, Carolina?"

"What is it, York?"

"Take a look."

And they noticed that another freelancer was planting an unknown device. This was the freelancer that Agent California had questioned about. This was…

"You! What are you doing here, Tex? And for that matter what is it you're planting? A bomb? That doesn't sound so surprising. After all it was you who blew up the oil platform wasn't it!"

"That facility blew up?!"

"Someone's been covering our tracks Wash. And YOU are also on the rooster Tex. But they always hid your name from the leaderboards. So why would they send you?"

"Hey guys, I'd hate to brake up the reunion, but we have a situation on our hands."

And York definitely had a good point, because now they were surrounded by dozen's of insurrection troopers and hornets. With their own commanding officer no less.

"Let's go, go, go, now! Get into position! Completely surround them!"

"No one get behind me! Drop your weapons!...You... dickhead, disarm the bomb!"

"Easy, easy. No reason to get all dramatic! Okay, let me take a crack."

"Just fuckin' do it already!"

"Easy, easy, man…uh...this isn't exactly a bomb. It's a transmitter."

"Alright, it's not a bomb! Wait, a transmitter? What's it transmitting?"

"Our location.

"Why would it do that?"

At this moment, Carolina knew what would happen soon. So she called her brother to give his team a warning. But was met with an unexpected call.

_"Carolina, how's things on your end?"_

"Shhh! I'm surrounded by troopers, so I have to be as quiet as possible. Listen to me, Tex just called in a Mac Round, so things are about to get loud on our end. Why?"

_"Well I don't have much time, my team's about to get loud in less then two minutes. We'll hole up nearby the entrance and then retreat when necessary. We're going to take out the two cannons in the process."_

"Good, cause the Mac Round will also end up destroying two more of those cannons, so that will be five, which means now evac can get the packages back to command with almost no damage."

_"Roger that."_

"But you will need make sure you retreat as far away as possible cause once that round fires, the entire building will fall apart. So staying near the building is no longer an option."

_"Copy that Carolina. California out."_

Now was the time for Carolina to get her team out. In this moment, lots of things happened. Carolina camoflauged and started eliminating insurrection troopers one by one, York handed the transmitter to the C.O., and when the Mac Round fired, the package fell off the roof and the freelancers dived after it.

"This must be karma for kicking Maine out the window."

"I don't wanna DOOO TTTHHIIIIIIIISSSSSS!"

"SON OF A BIIIIIITTCCCHH!"

The three jumped off the building, with the Pelican rushing down behind them. The three Freelancers freefell down the building in diving position, avoiding oncoming debris and other falling soldiers. Carolina reached for the Sarcophagus and rode on it. Pilot Four Seven Niner tried to get the Pelican in position with Carolina.

"Line it up! Come on! Come on! Stay on target!"

Four Seven Niner opened the Pelican's back hatch and began to slow it down. Suddenly, two Hornets appeared and began to fire at them. Carolina hoped off the Sarcophagus and Washington took her place on it. He fired his rifle at a Hornet and managed to take it down in mid-air. Tex appears, flying on her jetpack.

"WAAAAAHHH!"

She successfully pushed Wash & the Sarcophagus safely inside the Pelican. Tex's armor sparked blue.

"Ow."

"Hold on everyone!"

Four Seven Niner balances the Pelican and flies off.

"Get the package back to Command, now!"

"On it Tex!"

York & Carolina were still in freefall. They fell closer and closer to the ground.

"Well there goes our ride."

"You think maybe we should've had a fallback plan?"

"Hey, what happened to Maine?"

And then Maine appeared and rescued the two in a Warthog.

"Whoa! Are we in a car?"

Though this surprise was nothing compared to the other surprise when a certain brother agent appeared.

"CALIFORNIA?! I thought I told you to get your guys out of trouble! And what did I tell you about heavy armaments? No heavy armaments."

"Carolina, don't worry!"

"Worry! Pissed is a better term don't you think?"

"Look, I got this rocket launcher AFTER my team set on foot. And everything is as okay as it can be. I left North in charge while I pursued the 'other' target. And I made sure that that Bravo team was held in an easily defendable position."

"Cal.."

"Carolina. Everything's fine."

"…Son of a bitch."

AN: Hey guys, here's a continuation of the last chapter, hope you like it. Remember to please leave me reviews. They are my favorite things in the world.


	6. Chapter 6: Hell's Angel

AN: This chapter will be a small flash back (flash back will be in first-person). The rest will be in third-person.

Many Years Ago...

Chapter Four: Hell's Angels

_1 hour, 15 minutes into the mission…_

"I thought I told you to lead your team. You know that the Director will fuck you up if one mistake happened."

"I told you sis, everything is fine, relatively speaking. Besides, the Director already knows what's going on."

"What!?"

As Carolina and California were arguing about his mission, seven hornets and a squadron of jet-packed insurrection troopers pursued the four freelancers. When he noticed this, York decided to snap them out.

"GUYS! Seriously Carolina, just let him explain what happened. California, don't anger your sis…too much."

"York!"

"Look guys, I did everything I could. Besides, he's right. Being pursued by insurre….WOAH!"

Their conversation was cut short by the hornet's rocket barrage. This time the freelancers focused on taking them out first and in order to do that…

"Cal. What type of rocket launcher do you have?"

"A mark three."

"The one that has heat-seeking?"

"Yeah. I figured there'd be air vehicles. Might as well compensate."

"That's a good thing in this case. Now can you PLEASE cover fire for us?!"

"Don't worry York. It's what I do."

And that's what he did. Using the construction ramps located sparingly on the highway, California accelerated on his mongoose class vehicle (AKA 'The Motorcycle) to reach high enough for the heat seeking to take effect. Meanwhile, the Warthog crew took evasive manoeuvres as grenadiers, snipers and other troopers opened fire on them.

With skill, ability, and a bit of luck on their side, the four freelancers took town four hornets, and managed to escape into the tunnels.

"Thank god. Now we have a little bit of breathing room…so about that 'other target'…"

"I got it York. We'll get to that ASAP. But first, I'd like to know what happened to Team B. Agent California. Care to explain?"

"Right um…let's see…"

_20 minutes prior_

_As I cut our chat line, Wyoming came back down, probably to report the status on the cannon that had 20 guards._

_"Wyoming, how's the cannon doing?"_

_"Well, I've set it to auto fire, so that will allow us to dispose of the guns while we make our escape. It should be firi…now."_

_Well, it looked like I got my wish about those cannons, but then we weren't able to hold up and wait for evac. We had to get out of here within less than a minute._

_"DAMMIT! Wyoming, we need to go. Now! I'll contact North."_

…_"Agent North, this is Agent California. Do you copy?!"_

_"I copy. What's the situation?"_

_"There's a change in plans. Now I need you to find a warthog nearby and fast. We're about to get loud and…"_

_As I was giving orders, North and C.T. approached us with exactly what I wanted. A four-seated, fast warthog. But ho…_

_"How did you guys get here already? Not that I'm complaining."_

_"I asked C.T. to keep an open channel connected to Carolina's com-link and report what was going on. We knew what was going on as you were talking to her."_

_"That's a good thing in this case. Now let's get outa here!"_

_So as we were driving, we were about to make our way to the first tunnel entrance of the highway right off the exit when…_

_"Son of a BITCH…!"_

"Just get to the point Cal. What happened after the Mac Round fired?"

"Alright, alright. I'm getting there."

_When the Mac Round hit, I asked North where we were held up at, considering we had to be rather far from the building to survive._

"_Hey North, how far did you drive us?"_

"_From what I last saw before our Warthog crashed, I'd about twenty miles."_

"_Good. That put us at a minimal safety distance actually…anyways, do you know where we were headed?"_

"_I wasn't headed for anywhere in particular, but a guess The Arcadia bridge, which was the minimal safety distance…but why?"_

"_That was where the 'second' closest checkpoints was for our target. That part of the mission is botched, but he may have left behind some information that could help Team A find him, intercept him, and retrieve the briefcase."_

"_What about that bugger of a package that they had to pick up in the first place?"_

"_The when I saw the sarcophagus last, it appeared that er…. Agent Texas succeeded in pushing it in the evac pelican, bringing it back to command."_

"_Sounds like some-one is a bit jealous."_

"_Jealous is not an accurate term C.T. I'm just…concerned about her affairs with us…look it doesn't matter. The Sarcophagus is secure, and that's fine by me."_

"_So, about that bridge…"_

"_Of course North. What's also good about that bridge is that it has one of the best defendable positions in the city not already garrisoned by the insurrectionists. There's a block about a mile wide, many vehicles were damaged in previous skirmishes, so we can use them for cover, and the area has no deployed guns."_

"_How far is it from here."_

"_It's about five miles from where we are now. So we better start walking. And fast."_

_It wasn't even 5 minutes before the insurrectionists caught up with us and began opening fire on us._

"_Damn! Wyoming, do you think you can use that time distortion ability you have?"_

"_What?! That ability is just a prototype. I don't know if that bloody piece of rubbish will…"_

"_Just…do it."_

"_Aye, I got you old sport."_

_Just as a hornet was about to fire upon them, Wyoming used his armor ability. This moment was rather lucky for them because time slowed down at the instant the rocket nearly hit._

_Time may have slowed down, but the rocket already reached them. As a result…_

"_Crap. Wyoming, do you think you can hold out for a while?"_

"_I…I don… don't know…lo…lot's…of…da…"_

"_North. We need to move now. The time distortion will give us five minutes, but I don't know how long Wyoming will last. Split up from us, and take through the alleys."_

"_Yes sir."_

"_C.T. I need you to send as many holograms as you can. At the same time, I'll send in numerous grenades to provide cover fire. The large surge in soldiers appearing combined with large explosive fire-power will send their forces in disarray."_

"_You got it."_

…."You split up from your Team? Again?"

"This was at the time I was about to make my way to you…"

"_You know, we're not medics, and while we can travel some distance, we won't make it far enough. We need help."_

"_I know North. I'm calling command."_

_I checked how much time we had according to Wyoming's time distortion meter. Two-and-a-half minutes. I had to make the call quick._

"_F.I.L.S.S. This is Special Agent California. Agent Wyoming is in jeopardy and we are in need of medical supplies at our position."_

"_Affirmative. Drop Pod 72940 is en route from the "Mother of Invention" to your coordinates."_

"_I also require 'Special Case' Drop Pods 0406 and 0507 at my position."_

"_I apologize, but the content in those drop pods are not authorized for this class of mission. Only the direct…"_

"_Just let me talk to the fucking Director then already!"_

"_No need for language mister. I am only reporting that th…"_

"_And I, the DIRECTOR, hereby verify that any and 'all' drop pods may be sent to Special Agent California."_

"_Thank you Director."_

"_Agent California, whatever you need to do to make this mission a success, you'd better get to it!"_

"_Yes sir!"_

_A minute and a half…I knew the medical pod could make it within seconds. The others, however, I had hoped that they would make it in time. If they didn't…well I didn't want to think about what would happen._

_Well, I was correct about the medical supplies. So I hoped that the extra ammunition would arrive shortly…along with a few vehicles._

"_Okay guys, this is it. We have about a minute-and-a-half before the time distortion wears off. After that, we have to hold out for about thirty seconds before our help arrives."_

"_What help did you contact for besides medical supplies?"_

"_I also request extra ammunition, a missile-turret Warthog, a passenger warthog, grenade launchers for all of your rifles, signal flares, two missile pods, and a Mongoose and a Mark Three rocket launcher. C.T. it'll be up to you to get as much of those supplies into the passenger car as fast as you can."_

"_I can copy."_

"_Wait a minute. A Mongoose…you're leaving us?"_

"_I'm sorry North. But we still had a job to do. Catching the briefcase. I'm going to meet up with Team A to resume the primary objective."_

"_Hey we're a Team. Where-ever you went, we'd follow you…"_

"_To what-ever end. I know North. But you guys have done enough….get ready guys. We're about to get hot."_

"_Yes sir."_

"_Okay on my Mark! Three…"_

_The rockets were going faster, the troopers readying their arms…_

"_Two…"_

_The vehicles were mobilizing…_

"_One…"_

_Everything was going faster…_

"_MARK!"_

"_Sync!"  
_

_In this instant, Agent North used his dome energy shield to protect himself and Wyoming. C.T. and I summoned a fake army that would have been large enough to cover the entire city. This was why I ordered extra ammunition. Because we fired everything we had against the insurrection._

_From hornets flying everywhere to vehicles crashing to soldiers panicking. I couldn't believe it. The plan was working. And we could have advanced as well were we not working in our own desperation. _

_And we did it. We wreaked enough havoc for long enough because I saw…_

"_The drop pods! They're here!"_

"_That's great Cal! I'm working my way to them right now."_

"_It's good that they landed right behind us."_

"_Indeed North. And how is Wyoming?"_

"_I've got him patched up for now, but we need to get him back to command right now."_

"_Then let's get to it!"_

_We packed the supplies in the passenger Warthog, and got our wounded in shotgun of the other Warthog. But before they left…_

"_North, once you start driving, I'll give you a ten-second cover fire period. After that, your on your own."_

"_Roger that Cal."_

"_You'll be in charge of this squadron while I'm away. When my sister calls…tell her what's happened in my absence. I promised I'd get you guys out of this mess."_

"_We will get out of this mess…do you trust us?"_

"_I trust all of my friends."_

"_You just went sentimental again."_

"_I really gotta stop doing that."_

"_And take away my chance to mess with you?"  
_

"_North…"  
_

"_I'm just messing."_

"_Good. Very good. Now…let's get out of here."_

_With North driving one Warthog, C.T. driving the other, and everything packed in (Wyoming included), I hopped on my Mongoose, grabbed my Rocket launcher, and was set to roll out._

"_Until we meet again."_

"_Yeah…"_

_Then the troopers re-grouped to fire at us…_

"Once I made sure the others were a good distance away, I set out my own path to meet up with you guys."

"Well…at least you managed to salvage the situation Cal. Loosing a freelancer is difficult to recover from."

"Yes. Yes it is."

_Meanwhile at another building located within the city elsewhere…_

As the insurrectionist troopers were sweeping the building for any…unwanted visitors, Agent Texas was sneaking around, looking for a way to escape, and continue her objective.

"Come in Mother of Invention, I repeat, come in Mother of Invention."

"We read you Agent Texas. Go ahead."

"FILSS, I need you to fire ordinance pod 0401 to my position."

"I am sorry, but I cannot verify the contents of that Pod. Protocol dictates that all…"

"Just fire it FILSS. Just like you did with Agent California."

"Do you mean your son perhaps?"

"FILSS! Do you acknowledge?"

"Acknowledged. Safety protocol overridden. Firing ordinance pod 0401 to Agent Texas's position."

The pod then fired, and Agent Texas received a Mongoose and a Warthog, much like Agent California had requested…

As two guards nearby were arguing whether they heard her or not, Agent Texas drove through the window, and escaped, making her way to the objective.

_...Back to the four freelancers…_

"So Cal, you made sure your men were at least alive?"

"Please sister I did everything I could."

"Carolina, I think we can just dro…"

"No York. If we loose even a single freelancer, the entire program may be set back. I want to get some conformation…Agent North, this is Agent Carolina, come in Agent North?"

"Team B is in cover. But we're pretty tightened up, and we got wounded."

"We can get there soon."

"Negative, just get the package out of the city."

"But Cal.."

"California did everything he could. Just trust him."

"Roger that. Carolina out."

After the four located the program official, they agreed to cut him off at the overpass. California drove next to the Warthog's right side to pick up Maine, so that they may pursue him on the highway, while Carolina and York followed underground.

As the program official drove under the overpass, Maine and California readied their weapons.

"Maine, you got your Brute Shot ready?"

"…"

"Right, didn't even have to ask."

Then Agent California drove over the overpass, cutting the official off, and giving Maine his chance to 'Take care of him.'

AN: Hi guys two things. I've been having to deal with some glitches about the summary people read before the fanfiction so I'm going to post here so that everyone's clear.

"In an AU where the Director had both a daughter AND a son, Agent California fights simply as a capable freelancer, who always remains true to Carolina. But when a new freelancer becomes involved with the program, he will find himself...less than pleased of her. What will he do? In any case, this freelancer will give him more than what he bargained for. This is...Agent California."

And secondly. I like writing this story, but I REALLY want reviews. Please tell me if there are any flaws, corrections needed, anything. Reviews would be great.


	7. Chapter 7: Going Spiral

AN: This will be the last chapter of the sarcophagus mission arc. Third person.

Many Years Ago…

Chapter Five: Going Spiral

As Maine and California intercepted the program official, York and Carolina talked about many things about this mission, more specifically, a certain female freelancer named…

"Agent Texas? Come on Carolina, she's just doing her job to…"

"No York! She put all of our freelancers in the field at unnecessary risk, including my brother, when she called in the Mac Round."

"Okay, that might have been a little bit over the top, but still we freelancers have to do what we can to get the job done."

"Listen to me York. Doing what we can and doing things we don't have to do are two different things. On the rooftop, when the insurrection troopers surrounded us, a squadron of Missile-Pod class Pelicans would have been enough to scare them off."

"The Mac Round helped speed things along. Besides we were pressed for time weren't we?"

"Quite the opposite. The Mac Round prevented Team B from being able to get to their objective in the first place. We should be lucky that Cal was able to get his team out alive."

"She was sent with us because she was one of the best fighters in the program."

"….."

"I did say, 'One of the best' didn't I? I mean you're still the…"

"I don't care about the leader-boards."

"What, are you serious?"

"York, while I can agree that she's a great fighter, she doesn't work well with others, much like South. And look at how well that turned out."

"Yeah, I can get your point an…look can we talk about this later? I think Maine and Cal are coming back."

"Good."

As the two freelancers drove from the underground, Maine and Cal met them on their Mongoose, with a certain bloodied briefcase.

"Nice work you two."

"Thanks."

"Yep, subtle as always. The response is probably on the way."

"No doubt they'll consist of Hornets and Jet-packed troops. Carolina, I can provide cov…"

"No Cal."

"Carolina, please. I just want to be able to hel…"

"Everyone else is going to be fine brother. I need you to find a far away landing pad or large empty space on the highway for us to be able to call for evac."

"Yes ma'am."

"And in case we do end up loosing the package, don't let anything, or anyone, get in your way of retrieving it."

"You got it…good luck sis."

"You too bro."

As Agent California left to clear the way, the three remaining freelancers checked to make sure their own package was secure.

As the freelancers prepared to move out, they noticed a squad of insurrectionists, surprisingly consisting only of jet-packed troopers. And even more surprising, only three. Something else must have been holding them back. Nevertheless…

"Let's get the hell out of here."

"Hold on!"

York drove the Warthog down the highway, swiftly passing by several random cars. Two Insurrection Hornets were in pursuit.

"Comin' through! Excuse me! Look out!"

"Here they come!"

The Hornets closed in on Team A. Three Insurrection soldiers (a muscular sleeveless soldier, a sniper soldier, and a female soldier) with Jetpacks hopped off their Hornets and flanked the Warthog.

"Behind us!"

As Team A battled two of the Insurrection soldiers, the Sniper Soldier sped ahead and took aim on a truck in front of Team A. The other two Insurrectionists continued to fire.

"Maine! Protect the briefcase!"

Maine noticed a sniper laser pointing at Carolina's spine and looked behind him. The sniper fired a shot at Carolina, but Maine intercepted the shot, causing it to hit his chest and render him unconscious.

"Maine? Sniper!"

A sniper bullet whizzed past Carolina's head, impacting into the turret. Meanwhile, Tex rode on her motorbike being pursued by some Insurrectionists in Warthogs. Tex narrowly avoided the chaingun rounds and swerved around. She grabbed her Rocket Launcher and shot the Warthog. She spotted the Hornets chasing Team A.

"Gotcha!"

She jumped off a ramp, fired her rocket at the Hornet and threw the rocket launcher away. She then brought out her SMG, and fired at some Insurrectionists on Mongooses.

Back to Team A, they still fled from the Insurrectionists. Carolina ducked down…

"Punch it!"

"It's punched!"

The female Insurrectionist landed in front of the Warthog and had a brief battle with Carolina. Maine stirred, but the female Insurrectionist planted her foot on Maine's back, knocking him out again. She stole the briefcase off Maine's back but Carolina managed to retrieve it back. As the briefcase flew in the air Carolina struggled to get a grip of it; eventually she managed to this.

"Got it."

The sleeveless Insurrectionist kicked Carolina down to the front bumper of the Warthog and retrieved the briefcase. Carolina attempted to climb back on the Warthog, while the sleeveless Insurrectionist prepared to execute a still-unconscious Maine.

"Hold on!"

York swerved the Warthog to the left, flinging Carolina & the sleeveless Insurrectionist off it, rousing Maine in the process.

They landed on a nearby truck platform with oil drums, with Carolina grabbing the briefcase in the process. The female Insurrectionist began to fire at Carolina, forcing her to take cover. At the same time, the sleeveless Insurrectionist tossed an oil drum at Team A's Warthog, knocking off its turret.

"Would you quit throwin' shit!? On your left! On your left!"

The sniper soldier fired at York and Maine from a neighboring truck. York rammed the Warthog into the truck, knocking the sniper off. The sniper used his jetpack to gain back his balance and accelerated towards the Warthog, until Maine punched him in the face, knocking him down to the road. York and Maine sped up next to the oil truck.

"Watch it! Watch it!"

Maine jumped out of the Warthog and onto the oil truck platform, in order to assist Carolina. Maine battled the female soldier, but was kicked back with Carolina. As Carolina and Maine were back to back, the two switched opponents (Carolina fighting the female soldier & Maine fighting the sleeveless soldier) with Maine then in possession of the briefcase.

"On the right!"

York tossed the Brute Shot to Carolina. Carolina matrix-jumped in the air, dodging incoming bullets. She stabbed the female soldier with the Brute shot.

"Come on!"

The female Insurrectionist tossed her pistol to her sleeveless companion, who caught it. The sleeveless soldier battled with Maine, even managing to shoot Maine's throat. He then threw Maine to the floor and shot his throat repeatedly.

"NOOO!"

Carolina quickly tackled the soldier and nearly stabbed him with the Brute Shot. The sleeveless Insurrectionist kicked Carolina off and the two battled. As Carolina began to overcome the two soldiers, Maine loaded his Brute Shot, with blood pouring down his throat. He aimed at the two Insurrectionists, but the female Insurrectionist fired at Maine, causing his aim to go awry. Maine fired at the truck's rear, causing it to swerve. The truck hit a car and the four soldiers flew through the air, the female Insurrectionist flying off the highway. Carolina reached for the briefcase, still on Maine's back, but failed to reach it. She landed in the Warthog. Maine, however, bounced off the road twice and was hit by a speeding truck and was completely knocked off the road. The sleeveless Insurrectionist retrieved the briefcase and flew up to his Hornet. Tex appeared on her motorbike & fired at the Hornet. The Hornet entered a tunnel and damaged the tunnel door controls. Tex followed in pursuit.

"Don't let her grab it first!"

"Who cares who gets it first?"

"I do!"

The doors slowly began to close.

"Bail out!"

"Bailing!"

York hopped out of the Warthog and rolled down the road. Carolina rode on the Warthog and was catapulted into the tunnel before the doors closed, wheels of the Warthog flying every which way. She activated her speed unit enhancement and zoomed off.

"Cal, forget the evac! I want you to follow up on Texas until you see a hornet holding a white briefcase. Then shoot the damned thing down get that package before SHE does!"

"Tex eh?...Already on it!"

As Carolina caught up too the freelancers, Agent California met up with Texas to 'aide her.' But Texas, knowing what she's capable of, decided that she should do this alone.

"Fall back Agent California. I've got this!"

"I've got the firepower to take that hornet down! Maybe you should let ME take care of it."

"If you were capable of getting the case, don't you think you would have done it already!?"

This angered Agent California greatly until he was filled with road rage. He fired all of his remaining rocket launcher ammunition blindly at the hornet. The rockets crashed into a billboard, knocking it over, causing the highway to partially be destroyed, but also making a ledge close enough to intercept the hornet.

"Just provide cover fire California. I got this!"

"Why don't you fall back and let us handle this!"

Carolina caught up to the two freelancers, and then all three of them raced to the hornet in order to obtain the briefcase.

Tex accelerated and then the Hornet began to ascend. Tex leapt off her motorbike and launched it from the makeshift ledge towards the Hornet, managing to take it out. The sleeveless Insurrectionist used his jetpack to escape. He gained his balance and flew off with the briefcase.

"Woah!"

Tex landed on the road and Carolina sprinted past her. She leapt off the ledge and used her grappling hook to keep up with the sleeveless soldier. She landed on a building and quickly jumped off of it. She landed on another building and sprinted toward the soldier. She tackled the Insurrectionist in midair and the two landed on the road. She punched the soldier and the two began to tumble all around the street, with Carolina sliding on the road. The soldier hit a truck and the briefcase detached from his back. Carolina saw a car coming and curled up to slide underneath it. Part of her armor scraped against the underside of the car, and she was sent flying through the air and her back hit a wall on the street. As Carolina stood her helmet detached. She saw the briefcase across from her, where Tex picked it up.

"Command, the package is secure. Headin' home."

"Excellent work Agent Texas."

"Thank you, sir."

At this point, California caught up to the too ladies, having been forced to take a longer way around with his mongoose. But it was too late for him. As he realized this, he called for evac at their coordinates, and commanded the other freelancers to meet them there.

"Hey Cal?"

"…I'd rather not speak to you right now, Tex. I'd like to attend to my sister."

"Well, I just wanted to say that er…you're not half bad at this."

"Gee, I feel flattered."

"Look, from what I've heard, you're pretty good at this kind of stuff. But next time when I say I got this, I DO have things under control. I don't need help completing an objective."

"But is it so difficult to be able to work with others?"

"Sometimes, teammates can just hold you back."

"Such a…distaste for teamwork is not, under most circumstances, rewarded in the freelancer program."

"Perhaps, but I can tell you, there was a reason why I was sent alone."

"Of course. Agent Texas."

"Now why don't we just move on kid, and get ourselves out of here."

"Agreed."

"And tell your sister that I told her better luck next time."

"I will."

As the two agents ended their less-than-pleasant conversation, two pelicans arrived at the scene to pick up the eight freelancers. Agents North, C.T., and Wyoming arrived right at the moment when the Pelicans showed up. And took the first one back to command to get Wyoming treated quickly. Agent York also went with them to provide good company for the wounded.

And Agent Maine arrived not a minute later, and began to collect his as the second Pelican showed up. He, along with Carolina, California, and Texas, hopped aboard the second Pelican.

The mission was a success. But much of the city was damaged in the process, and a fellow freelancer was wounded. The delay in time would also have consequences upon California's record, and reputation.

The four in the second Pelican just sat there quietly, all of them think thoughts different from each other. While Maine tended to his wounded throat, Carolina was filled with concealed contempt for Texas, for her taking away her chance. Texas was rather indifferent to everyone.

California too also disliked Texas, but was not hateful of her (unlike Carolina) but rather wary. As California thought of her, another thought came to his mind. _"A shadow of the past…"_ How odd it was that of all the thoughts he could have, that one in particular stood out to him.

With this in mind…he began plotting.

AN: Hi guys, I good news and bad news. The good news will be that now you guys have at least a relatively good idea on his view of Texas. The bad news is that the chapters will basically just be of the aftermath, and some basic interaction aboard the "Mother of Invention." Nonetheless I thank those that have bothered to read in the first place.

And one more thing. REVIEWS, REVIEWS, REVIEWS. Seriously, I only have one, and I don't think it's enough to truly suggest any good ideas. Please tell me if you think there's anything wrong with the story, let me know.


	8. Chapter 8: Aftermath

AN: From here on out to the end of the story line, it will all be mostly in first-person view of California.

Chapter Six: Aftermath

Many years ago…

"Today, Agents, we will be discussing the success AND failures of our mission that was recently enacted not less than 24 hours ago."

The director was correct. Everyone who played a role in this mission surely had some quality that aided in the mission…and hindrances that restrain us from our full potential. I knew all too well what mine were. The counsellor also stepped up to have us look over primary and secondary objectives completed. Obviously we completed our primary objectives, otherwise we would not be having this conversation.

Such secondary objectives were also (in this case) relatively important matters like keeping the city safe, preventing civilians from getting involved in our affairs…and for the leading commanders like myself, keeping any and every freelancer under our command from harm. Carolina and I failed on all accounts in these matters. I don't know what punishment the director will give us. But I hope that he spares Carolina in the process somehow.

"Agent California," We it looks like it's my turn to speak my will. "The Director and I have discussed how we are going to review our most recent mission. We agreed that we are going to ask you a list of questions relating do your most—recent duties in order to make your responses as clear as possible. Do you understand?"

"Of course, Counsellor."

"Good. Now, what was Team B's primary objective, and what was Team A's primary objective?"

I had feeling that for now, the director and the counsellor were asking relatively simple questions, probably to butter me up for something else entirely. Still, I had questions to answer…

"Our primary objective…was to act as recon for Team A, so that they knew as most as they could before proceeding with their own mission, which was to retrieve the Sarcophagus and take it back to command…"

"Good. Anything else?..."

"We were also t…to…retrieve the package from the program official."

"Did you or did you not deviate from these objectives?"

"I did, Director."

"Why?"

Yes, why did I deviate? That usually is a tough question to answer, especially when there's important whys such as this involved. I almost can never answer these questions. I guess I'm just a little bit…impulsive.

It matters not. I must let them know why. "I deviated from these objectives in the sense that I might have provided my sis…"

"I know you like referring to family a lot. But during professional hours, we are simply Agents, and Staff leaders."

"My apologies Director. Anyways, I deviated from these objectives in the hope I guess that I might have provided Agent Carolina and her team greater support, since I had considered her own target…more valuable."

"And you considered the Sarcophagus more valuable because…"

"Because I had considered that if we were able to only capture one of the two targets, it may have been the one that required a key. The one that I imagined we could readily break in by our own means, sirs."

"Agent California, you need to know when to follow orders. Control this insubordination before it gets out of hand."

"What the director is trying to say, is that while we can understand why we can see why you made your decisions, it is most wise to stray as little from set objectives as we possibly can."

"Of course, Counsellor, and thank you. Thank you both for understanding."

"Now that we have discussed the cause of our mistakes, let us look at some of the effects. Shall we Counsellor?"

"We shall indeed, Director

Thank god for this little intermission. Answering all of these questions while being watched by every freelancer in the room is a bit…nerve-wracking. I just don't want to disappoint any of them. Especially my big sister.

Well, it appears that the Director and Counsellor were more lenient than I thought. Perhaps they may simply change the leader-board positions. Yes. Yes, that is rather fitting for this scenario. Well…here come the end results of our mistakes.

"Due to the…increased awareness of the insurrectionists, there have also been increased amounts of skirmishes, leading to portions of the city left moderately damaged. The city is currently functioning at a 76% of its maximum capacity. There have also been reports of insurrection troopers being quartered into civilian homes. Fortunately, no permanent damage has been dealt."

This is all pretty good news, at least by my unusual expectations. I had honestly thought that I botched the mission. Maybe I salvaged it instead and made everything not as bad as it could have been. Still there's the matter of…

"Agent Wyoming, however, has taken heavy damage to his internal organs behind the chest via rocket barrage. He has been taken into the emergency room and is in recovery. But will not be active for one week."

"As a result, since Wyoming was under your command, the Director and I have agreed that this was indeed your responsibility, and yours alone."

"I understand sirs."

"As such, you may be placed down one position on the leader-board."

"I understand."

"And we are considering re-assigning you to mor…"

"Wait! Director…"

"Carolina, I thought I told you I'd deal with you once I was through with California."

"Please just listen to me for a moment. All of those results caused by his errors are also parallel to my own mistakes. Agent Maine was shot straight in the throat nine times and run over twice. He's survived but he's also hospitalized, maybe even in a worse position than Wyoming. Plus we've also damaged many cars, so part of the city damage is my responsibility as well."

"Carolina, I know you mean well for me, but I…"

"No. You are a capable leader and soldier. No one can guarantee success and…"

"Both of you be silent! Carolina, I have spent this much time over California's mistake not as a punishment, but as lessons learned. He will not be placed down a position on the leader-board. But in all seriousness I do need California off the field for reasons classified to the three of us. The Counsellor, myself, and California, if he will accept his new position.

"What?!" In this moment, both my sister and I were in shock. This type of reformation was not heard of before. This would mean that I potentially keep my position of third place. Permanently, even while away from combat duty.

Now everyone was talking all at once, confused about what was going on. North and York began questioning what was going on, C.T. started griping about how she knew about 'favouritism,' Wash was definitely the most confused one out of all of us, not having heard of this type of arrangement of leader-board positioning system.

All in all, the only one who didn't act up was Texas. I was surprised that anyone could just not care about this matter. Then again, I wasn't as surprised when I noticed it was Texas who didn't care. She doesn't seem to care about a lot of things, except for being the best freelancer. Well as everyone was acting up, the director thought tha…

"Everyone, be quiet!"

Well, that all ended pretty quickly. I guess the director just wanted to set everything straight.

"Allow me to make this simple agents. We have two agents hospitalized for about a week, the leader-board positions will be arranged, we completed our mission with success, and I will be taking away Agent California for certain missions, having him aide me in special scientific experiments concerning A.I."

"And since we have completed our mission with success, we have bought ourselves a relief period of approximately two weeks."

"Wait a minute Counsellor. We get breaks?"

"I know this sounds rather odd, but whenever a scenario comes where a victory over the insurrection forces is so valuable, we get a relief period for as long as it takes for their own forces to recover. This is not usually the case because our involvement with them is primarily through small skirmishes."

"If that will be all, you are all dismissed."

"Thank you, sir." I watched as everyone left. I saw Carolina wait for me outside the door, and I was about to meet her when the Director called for me.

"Agent California, you have three days before you must report to me. FILSS will notify you when we are ready to have you come to us. During this time period, the counsellor and I will be working on an especially secret experiment that we can tell no-one about. Do you understand?"

"Crystal clear, sir."

"Good, very good. That will be all. You may go…son. You can look at the leader-boards if you wish for a reference."

"I will…father."

And then we parted ways. My father and the counsellor were probably going back to the bridge to discuss their own affairs. I myself took one last quick look at the board before leaving, only to have my fears be confirmed.

Texas

Carolina

California

New York

Wyoming

North Dakota

Washington

Maine

South Dakota

Well…this does not look good. Carolina…god-speed.

AN: Hi everyone, I was feeling a lot more creative with writing, so I decided to try to post two chapters in one day. I hope that this chapter was good. And please give me some reviews.


	9. Chapter 9: Late Nights

AN: The single italic quote is a direct quote from director (in this fic.)

Many years ago…

Journal Logging #3: Late Nights

September 26th, 2545…I'm pooped for now, so I wanna make my entry a bit brief. After I looked at the leader-boards, I met my sister outside and we walked together to meet up with some of our friends at the mess hall for the remainder of the 'day'. I told her about the new changes…she said nothing. She didn't say anything but I could tell that she was pissed. This is part of why I don't know about my new possible position. I don't know if I'm ready to abandon her. If ever…

She told me that she'd rather just keep to herself for a while. I could understand that, so I met with North and York at the locker room for a nice chat. Not even they had much to talk about, so I decided to break the ice. Hmm….I think I'm going to want to write this conversation down. It seemed especially…perceptual, more so than I had thought.

"Hey guys."

"Hey Cal. You up late a bit walking around?"

"I know York. I just couldn't sleep."

"Too busy thinking about her?"

"How would you know that North?"

"Brother instincts."

"Right…well the leader-boards have changed. Almost everyone went down a place ex…"

"Except for you and Texas."

"Yeah…listen guys, I'm sorry for placing you down a rank because of some possible assign…"

"It's cool Cal. Besides, I still owe yah for you know who."

"You got that right York."

"Wait, what's he talki…"

"It's fine North…guys?"

"Yeah?"

"I think a lot of things are changing. Not just the leader-boards but everything. The rules, the missions, even the agents are changing a bit. I don't know."

"Yeah, and I think we got a lot more change along the way Cal…."

"…Quit gripping your helmet York. You'll only damage it further. Besides you already have a new one."

"I know. It just brings back some…interesting memories."

"Not all memories are good things York. I would know this from personal experience."

"Personal Experience?"

"…it's nothing. Still, we're lucky that Tex managed to save your life."

"Now I see, that's when you started feeling the changes York."

"You got that right North. I felt it since Tex showed up. And when the cops and the military started shooting at us…yeah I felt the change. All of it brings me back to the same question over and over in my head."

"Yeah, and what question might that be?"

"We're the good guys…right?"

"Yeah, of course we are."

"You don't sound so sure of yourself."

"No…I guess I don't sound so sure."

"…you know guys, my father told me a strange thing to me a long time ago, about this kind of stuff."

"Well, what was it?"

"_Good is a point of view, Calvin Church. To be good for moral sake is to be against practical purpose. To be good for one person, is to be bad against another. Truly the only ones we could be good for entirely…is when we are good to ourselves. When we have the ultimate surety of our decisions…and have no regrets. Only then are we entirely good."_

"Man…that's some weird shit Cal."

"Yeah York. It was and it still is. Even now I don't know what that means. Somehow I'm going to be hearing this exact saying again soon. This time I'll probably understand what it means, only to end up regretting it."

"Well, whatever it is you're looking for, always keep it touch with your sister."

"I will North. Goodnight guys."

"Goodnight."

After our parting, I went back to my quarters to do what I'm doing now. Getting ready to sleep for the night…Tomorrow will be day one of my time to chose whether to accept my new position or not. I think I'll visit Wyoming and Maine during the time, to see how they're holding up. I hope they forgive us (Carolina and I) for our mistakes. Well, time to log off.

Journal Logging #3: Completed

Agent California

AN: Hi guys, I know I haven't updated in a while. School stuff and all that. But here's another chapter for you. I promise things will get more dramatic and interesting! For now, please press the yellow review thing and review! Even if there's just one.


	10. Chapter 10: Visits and Conversations

Many Years ago...

Chapter Seven: Visits and Conversations (Day 1: Part 1)

Well I walked through the halls of the ship, hoping that I'd be able to be allowed to visit the…patients. Wyoming and Maine…their in the hospital for a week because of us, Carolina and I. At first those two were what she thought about most, but then as Texas started interacting with us more, I noticed that a rivalry between the two. I don't know girls as much, but I know about making enemies. I think I may have a few in the program already…it doesn't matter. I'll think about that later.

As I walked the halls, I stopped by to talk to pilot 479ner for a moment. She was the one that transported the wounded out of the city after all. Maybe she could give me some information. But then again, I don't want to deal with her sarcasm right now. I mean she's cool overall but right now I don't think her witty remarks will make me feel better. Well, here goes nothing.

I decided to start off with a relatively normal icebreaker. "Hi 479ner. I uh…I see that the Pelican is looking a lot better now. Guess that's good progress."

"Like hell it is. This baby isn't flying on any missions for a while. Those damned anti-air cannons nearly fried the engine and shorted out the controls."

And she was correct. The back door on that pelican was completely removed for reparation, the windows were cracked, some of the seats were torn out to make room for the wounded, there was a lot of char, etc. I could go on and on about what was wrong with it, but I could also point out…

"Well it could be worse."

"Don't jinx it!...But yeah, I guess you're right. I'm just glad this things still alive. Oh and I forgot to say thanks about those cannons when I picked you guys up. We wouldn't have gotten nearly as close to the ground if they were online and…you know."

That meant that she owed me a favour when she says thanks. I hope to use that favour for what I wanted. "Yeah, I know…so about that favour…"

"What do you want?"

"When you picked us up from the extraction point, that includes th…"

"The wounded. Yeah I know. And if you're asking about his condition, well, you're out of luck. I'm no medic, and it's been some time since I last saw his condition."

"Please, if you have any guess I'…"

"Why don't you visit the doctors?"

"Because they might not allow visitors!...sorry, I'm just not in a good mood for now."

"Still thinking about being the director's lapdog?"

"I wouldn't be a 'lapdog' as you would put it. The director simply trusts that I would remain loyal to him no matter what."

"Like a dog."

"479ner!"

"Sorry. I just had to get that in there. It just seemed appropriate at the time."

"Normally I'd enjoy your smart remarks, but really, I'm just not in the mood for anything positive."

"Wow, someone seems to be a bit of a downer."

"Well you try getting two men wounded under your command of the best squad. It doesn't feel good when you see a friend down, more so when it's on you."

"Yeah. I can understand that…so you wanted to hear about the Wyoming and Maine?"

"Yes please. I know what happened to Wyoming, how he got wounded. But I don't know what his condition was during the Pelican ride. And I don't know anything about Maine."

"Well I don't know about now. But as far as I could tell during the ride back, North, C.T. and York used all of the medical supplies packed on board to treat his wounds. Last time I checked he was cracking knock-knock jokes as he went into unconsciousness."

"Well, that's a good thing in this case. He always loved telling knock-knock jokes."

"And I heard from a fellow pilot that Maine was shot in the throat nine times, so I doubt he'll be speaking again. Other than that, he's relatively stable. At least for someone like him."

"Thank you, 479ner. It makes me feel better knowing that they're at least alive and able to be recovered."

"Remember that this was during the Pelican Ride back to command. I wouldn't know anything about their current condition." I knew that part already, but at this point I don't care.

"I agree. Hey uh 479ner?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you mind walking with me to the hospital? I could use the company."

"You do realize that I got a lot of work to do on my Pelican right?"

"Yeah…I guess that it was a stu…"

"Well I suppose I could use a little bit of a break. I've already been working hours on it nonstop. A break could give me my second wind, yah know?

"Yeah I can understand. Thanks."

"No problem."

So we walked to the hospital, everything seemed a bit quiet, maybe a bit too quiet. Although that might be because I woke up at five in the morning, two hours earlier than the earliest freelancers are usually willing to wake up, except for on missions. I had hoped that maybe I could sneak past the security guards and have just a moment with the guys. I mean, I'm wouldn't be doing anything major to disturb the doctors, right?

Well, while it was nice to finally have some company, that conversation took longer than I expected to finish, because now the guards are now showing up. Damn it. I hate the two guards, Bustak and Shasta. Those A-holes are no good to anyone. They are the worst people ever. Of all time, and the only reason why they're still hired is because they're pretty damn good at keeping people away from packages of extreme value. They're that annoying. Well, I'm going to have to try to get past them anyways…

"Well hello, 'Privates' Bustak and Shasta. I am freelanc…"

"You're that wuss Cal guy people keep talking about. That guy who's also some kind of mutt, am I right Shas?"

"Yeah, and I heard that he don't even get shit done right an…"

"First of all, the proper insult is 'lapdog' which I am not. And secondly, I may not be the best freelancer on the entire ship. But you can be damn sure that I get my 'job' done."

"Ooohh them fighting words ain't gonna get you no-where, eh Bus?"

"You got that right, the only reason why you even are on the leader-boards is cause you get special treatment."

"I do not ge…"

"You're the director's son ain't yah?"

"…Yeah. What is it to you?"

"Yeah, you're causing lots of trouble. Cause of that we can't let you enter the hospital wing."

"Look can I just see my men please? I will not change anything, I just want to see if they're okay."

"Okay? They're probably dead by now cause you botched the mission."

"I salvaged the mission! And such matters are the concern of freelancers and freelancers alone."

"Look do you want to do this the easy way, or the hard way?"

"Oh, look what we have here Shas, not only a washout freelancer, but a who…"

"Finish that sentence and I'll make sure that you two get thrown off this ship before you can even pack your bags." Thank god HE was here. I was going to threaten to tear them apart piece by piece. And I recognized that voice as well.

"Yes Dr. Harvey, we'll get back to work."

I'm just glad that they had to leave now before this got any uglier, though while they walked away, I heard one of them mutter some menial insult to me on the way out. I didn't care, I was just thankful that the Dr. was here.

"Well Agent California, I hope that those nin-com-poops didn't cause you too much trouble, relatively speaking."

"I'm just happy you arrived when you did. Things could have turned out much worse."

"I suppose I'm glad too. But unfortunately they are correct in one regard at least."

"Which regard?"

"I can't let you in."

"What, but doctor I.."

"I know that you're the director's son but normally I wouldn't care about that. Still normally I'd let you in to see how freelancers are holding up. But these are serious treatments. Protocol dictates that patients must be at least 75% treated before they can have visitors. And these patients are at a rather dangerous 65%. I can't let you in."

"Not even with special clearance."

"I don't know! Look you can come back within two, maybe three hours at the most. They will have patched up well enough by then. But until then…well…"

"I see…do you mind if I check for special clearance?"

"No, I don't mind. And even if you do get it, and you get in, just promise me that you'll be careful around the patients."

"I will."

As we parted ways for the moment, 479ner told me she had to get back to working on her Pelican, so parted ways for a while. I went to a nearby terminal to contact the Alpha, since he was the smart A.I. of the ship. If anyone could get me anything, it'd be him.

"Alpha A.I., this is special Agent California, do you copy?" I contacted him the way I normally do, but all I got was static though. Which was odd, since he usually is always quick to give me a smart remark. Something highly unusual must have happened to him. I suppose I'll have to talk to the director as soon as I can about this matter. For now, I should probably contact the next best AI, FILSS.

"Hey, FILSS, do you report?"

"_Affirmative. Hello Agent California, it is a pleasure talking to you."_

"It's a pleasure talking to you too. Hey have you talked or even heard from the Alpha AI recently?"

"_If you could define recently…"_

"FILSS…"

"_I am just kidding. Opening up recent connection with AI program: Alpha….strange, the Alpha has not reported any signs of activity within the last month. It is clear that he has either gone missing or has been taken by the director."_

'Taken? What would the Alpha be taken for?"

"_I am sorry, but that information is a level-zero classified information. So classified that even I was not allowed to have any knowledge in this regard."_

"I'll have to worry about that later."

"_Acknowledged."_

"FILSS, can you pull up any of the directors reports, or verifications or anything for that matter? Make sure you pull up most recent!"

"_Beginning search for most recent command…here. Seven hours ago, Director Leonard Church gave Special Agent California direct permission to enter the otherwise following unauthorized areas: Training Room, Counsellor's office, Databanks storage facility, Hospital's wing, the command brid…"_

"Wait! Back it up. You said hospital wing, right?"

"_I did, didn't I._"

"Well, can you send this report to all staff members stationed aboard this ship?"

"_Already sending to all members…report and copies sent. All staff members will now give you special permission to enter otherwise unauth…"_

"That's fine FILSS. Thank you for your service."

"_You are most welcome."_

"Yeah, I guess I am."

After I ordered FILSS to resume her normal duties, I went back to the Hospital Wing to hopefully be able to get in this time.

When I came back, it appeared that Dr. Harvey was already opening the doors for me. I guess that report came through after all. "Hey Dr. Harvey, I see that you have received the news about my new clearance."

"Yes I did. And while all of this seems rather odd, I have decided to let you in. And I have also received contact from the director himself about some more interesting news."

"Well what is it?"

"He said that he ordered another Agent to wait for you in the hospital wing, where Maine and Wyoming are. I wasn't at the front door at the time, so I don't know which Agent he sent."

"…How odd. Well, I suppose since the directors being pulling off some unusual acts, maybe I should…you know what screw it, I'm going to enter and find out."

"Well…I wish you luck for your company."

"Yeah. And thank you for looking after them. Maine and Wyoming."

"If it is of any comfort to you, they will recover, though I'd imagine that you'd feel more comfortable hearing that from themselves."

"Yeah, I would wouldn't I…well I suppose you can get back to what you were doing while I was visiting."

"Yeah, I guess we'll meet again."

"We will."

As I entered the hospital, I heard a voice. It wasn't a male voice, but female. It couldn't have possibly been my sister. She's been in the training room for hours, with the permission from the director of course. And if it wasn't C.T…

Well, I looked closer and closer until I saw a familiar suit of black armor. Until I saw…

"Agent Texas!"


	11. Chapter 11: Known Rivalries

AN: _(Italics are what other people have said outside this chapter.)_

Many Years Ago...

Chapter Seven: Known Rivalries (Day 1: Part 2)

To say that I disliked her would be one of the biggest understatements ever. Of all time. Which is why I was shocked that the director would send Agent Texas out of all the agents aboard this ship, to 'support' me no less. As I stood there speechless, Agent Texas just waited around a bit, probably wondering how I would respond to her arrival, if I did respond that is. Still, I guess neither of us can just remain in an awkward silence forever, so I decided to break the ice…with the most obvious question.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was sent here to make sure _'California didn't loose his head and concentrated on his real concerns."_

"I do not get nuts! Just…concerned that's all."

"You remember what I told you back at the city? Why I don't usually work with other teammates?"

"I had thought that was just because you think teammates hold you back, and that they would hinder your abilities in the fight?"

"You're right about the holding back part, but not for the right reasons. I don't work with teammates not because they weaken my abilities in combat, but because I don't let myself get trapped in a situation I can't control."

"I don't understand? When you say get trapped…wait do you mean when that should the enemy do something to your friends…"

"Exactly. I'm not going to snap because some group of enemy soldiers took a friend as a hostage, or that said friend was wounded. It's not healthy to be having big attachments like that. It makes you loose your proper thinking sometimes."

"That seems a little cold-blooded, even for freelancers."

"It's how I roll."

"So it seems...still I suppose I can say thank you in one way."

"What are you talking about?"

"The director may have been right to send you. You may be the rival of my sister, and yet for all of that rivalry you're still tied to us somehow. And for that I am thankful, if I may call you a friend."

"I don't know…you know what, how about this? I'll think about making friends, and if I do, we'll see how it goes from there. Though I should probably tell you that that's not likely to happen anytime soon, if ever."

"You really think you're that much of a mean bitch?"

"Well, I wouldn't say mean exactly. I just get ordered to do mean stuff."

"Still, it's enjoyable for you to do said mean things."

"Well, it is important to enjoy what you get hired for."

"I guess it is…I don't think Wyoming and Maine are waking up anytime soon, do you feel like leaving, walking around for a bit or…"

"It's fine. Believe me, I got time."

"Really?"

"Yeah. All the director has me do is train and train against targets and test dummies. This practice just doesn't really seem useful to me anymore."

"You feel restrained?"

"I guess you could say that. It just isn't the same thing as being in the actual fight. Besides, the training room is already being used."

"Let me guess, my sister's training again."

"Carolina hasn't stopped since we were dismissed from the briefing."

"Damn…I keep telling her to take breaks, eat, sleep, meet with the other freelancer. I don't what's she's going to do about this training, but I know why she is training. That's why I didn't like you when we first met while we were pursuing the package."

"Didn't? I thought you still hated my guts."

"Don't push it! And I don't hate people, I just get wary that's all. And if you're wondering why I was trying to beat you it wasn't for the leader-boards. I just didn't want Carolina to loose to what she would call _'A psychotic bitch who's just some other capable freelancer getting…"_

"Special treatment from the Director? Yeah, I know. It looks like all three of us are 'special' somehow."

"I can understand why some freelancers would think that Carolina and I get special treatment, considering we're the director's children. But she is right in one way."

"Yeah, and what might that be?"

"Oh come on Agent Texas, you don't get it do you! I know you're something else, and what I want to know why? Why are you also so 'special'?!"

"Look I don't know, okay?! That's something you'd have to ask the director."

"I know…I'm sorry that I snapped for a moment. The wounded, my sister, the direc…"

"The director's choice of taking you away from the field? So I've heard."

"So you have. Look I'd rather not talk about that right now, I just wanted to be able to see i…wait a minute. Look!"

"What is it?"

"They're coming around. Wyoming and Maine." And I was glad that they woke up now. I was just about to leave the hospital after giving up on them. I guess I shouldn't have been quick to judge.

Wyoming spoke first…well I guess I shouldn't say first since Maine tried to speak. But Wyoming was the first to say something. "Ah bugger, that rocket barrage must have been one hell of a biter."

"Yeah it sure was. So, how are you holding up?"

"Aside from many chest pains, splitting headaches, etc. I'd say I'm rather well, considering my bloody condition. You know this reminds me of an interesting knock-knock joke."

"Now's not the time Wyoming. How's Maine doing?"

"He may be even worse off than I am. He hasn't spoken a word since we arrived in the hospital, and I'm starting to wonder if he even can speak."

"…_(You try being shot at repeatedly and still being run over by trucks)_"

"Maine, please use body gestures as much as you can to help us understand, ok? We'll do what we can to help you communicate." I hope we can find something soon. I don't know how Maine will take to loosing his voice.

"…_(Fine.)_"

He nodded his head, which means yes. So I assumed that we were at an agreement. Well now I have to tell the others what happened because…

"Wait a moment. How are you understanding him but we can't?"

"Look that part can wait later but for now I think it's best if I told all of you what happened. May I Maine?"

"…_(Fine, get too it already!)_" Something about those new growls of his are starting to creep me out. I'm going to have to find a voice modifier sometime later on, maybe next week."

"So, Cal, what happened to Maine?"

"He was shot in the throat nine times, so his vocal cords have been permanently damaged, and he'll never be able to speak again. And from what I heard from York, he was also sniped in the chest and ran over by a truck…I think it's safe to say that Maine is envious that the rest of us still got to keep our voices."

"…_(You think!?")_

"Blimy, I don't suppose that we'll be going out the hospital anytime soon, am I right Cal?"

"Yes, due to the nature of our success of completing the mission we have bought ourselves two weeks of relief (starting from yesterday evening) from active duty, but also due to the nature of your own wounds, you won't be let of until the end of the first week."

"Well, those wounds do sound rather serious don't they. I suppose that we should do something about that voic…"

"Wyoming, just…please stop about the voice. I don't think that Maine likes talking about it a lot. Why don't you get your rest while I speak with him."

"Oh alright old chap, I suppose I'll see you soon."

"Yeah, I will."

"And don't worry about visiting me everyday of the week. I'll probably by out and about before you know it."

"You know what, you just might."

As Wyoming slipped back to unconsciousness, I asked Tex if she could leave us for now, which she readily did. She probably went off to confront Carolina to improve relations, if possible. Meanwhile I wanted to be alone with Maine for a while so that he could have someone to talk to, so to speak. But also so that I could better understand his…new ways of communication for future reference.

"Sooo…do you think you'll want to get back in the field, get back in the fight?"

"…_(Oh come on Cal. You of all people know I love a good fight.)_" Okay, this was a good start. Asking yes or no questions will give him a basic form of communication. I better continue this talk.

"Of course Maine, I can see that your fists are trembling for one. I assume that you'll want to get revenge against the soldier who shot you in the throat."

"…_(More than you know.)_"

"…You know, from what I heard from York, it was a sleeveless insurrection soldier who was the cause of your injury."

"…_(Yes. He was a rather capable fighter)._"

"Then I can presume he was quite tough if he could beat you."

"…_(Don't push it!)_" Okay, increased volumes in his growls probably means extreme cases of high emotion. In this case, anger. Maybe I'll move on to physical gestures.

"It sounds like you want me to stop, so I will. And I also heard that you took a sniper round into the chest. I know that you're not the fastest freelancer, but I also know that you're capable of avoiding one. So, who did you take the round for?"

This time he didn't even growl or make any noise. All he did was point at me and then raise two fingers up to show me two. I wasn't there when he took the damage. Which means…

"Wait a minute, are you trying to say that you took that round for my sister?...You saved her life?" He went back to nodding his head. Nothing else needed to be said.

"Well then…in this case, I owe you my life for saving her. If there's anything you need from me, please don't hesitate to ask for hel…"

"…_(Cal please! I don't need you to owe me anything. Besides, everyone knows that I hate asking for help)._"

"I don't know what it was you said that time. But I suppose that on reflection that I shouldn't have been grovelling."

"…_(Yeah. You didn't have to do anything.)_"

"Of course Maine…I see that you still have that brute shot with you. I'm sure it will make a good addition to your collection of spoils of war."

"…_(Oh it's going to be much more than a spoil of war.)_"

"I can see you waving your arms around like you're holding a blade. I'm going to assume that that's going to become your signature weapon."

"…_(Yes, it will. And I also got you something too, from the building.)_"

"Really? Well, what is it?" He pointed to the left and then lifted his arms trying to represent two hands opening a box. Don't ask me how I'm good at ready body languages, father says it's a gift that runs in the family.

"…_(I put it in the box, right over there. It's a melee weapon I thought you'd like.)_"

I walked over to the position where Maine pointed at, opened the box…and saw the most beautiful weapon I think anyone could find. Or should I say weapons.

They looked like two energy swords. I could tell because I knew enough about Covenant weapons to realize that an energy sword consists of a curved hilt, housing an energy storage module and a device for projecting the plasma, which forms the blade. The actual blade is composed of two partially ionized 'blades' of free moving electron based gas held in a blade-like form by two small magnetic-field generators built into the handle of the weapon. In other words, I could slice through anything now, and deflect plasma fire…

"Maine…I don't know what to say but thank you?"

"…_(Whatever, just make sure you use it well.)_"

"Well, I guess I'm going to leave now, if everything is alright on your end."

"…_(Okay, we're good, now get on going, you got to practice with those ass-kickers.)_"

"Okay, okay, I'll get on moving. And don't worry about me Maine."

When I left the hospital, I looked one last time to be sure that Maine and Wyoming were sleeping. After I checked, I decided to head to the training room, where I might not only be able to practice with my swords, but also be able to meet up with Carolina.

AN: Hi guys, I know this seems like a late chapter but I did promise one within a few days, and here you have one. Please leave by any comments.


	12. Chapter 12: Memory is the Key

AN: _(The Flashback will be in third-person mode)_

Years Before Project freelancer

Chapter Eight: Memory is the Key (Day 1: Part 3)

I took my time walking to the training room alone for as long as possible. I needed to, considering my new reminder of…lost loved ones. In my first Journal entry I said that I didn't like talking about family but I never said why. When I saw the energy sword that Maine gave to me, I almost believed it was the same sword that HE gave to me in case I needed to defend myself. It was horrible thinking about what would have happened if he didn't save my life, when I saw my mother die. And now that Texas has appeared…she reminded me of…oh god it was horrible…

(Beginning of Flashback…)

_ It was 2531. It was a beautiful day in Pirth City, capital city of Arcadia. And everything was going wonderfully. All troops were running their patrols correctly, all schools were teaching at maximum capacity, children were all as close to friends as possible, research was advancing relatively quickly. Everything was so wonderful, it was like heaven on earth or as close to it as possible._

_ Yet none of these fortunes mattered much to one family. The Churches. Carol and Calvin were at school May 9__th__, the day of Calvin's birthday. They were planning to spend all of their time together, having fun to their hearts' content while their parents were at work. These children were of a more mature mind-set, thus their parents were able to trust them all by themselves._

_Calvin was 10 years, soon to be eleven, the age when most young children started middle school and Carol was three years the elder. They got along swimmingly, sometimes teasing each other like most siblings would do, but whenever one needed the other, they also helped each other. They had intended to try to see if they could, for the first time ever, enter an ONI building nearby the city. For them it would have been the opportunity of a lifetime._

_Meanwhile, their parents Leonard and Allison Church were attending to their own duties. They were both in the best moods they could possibly be in while attending to such responsibilities but for different reasons. _

_For Leonard, head of the AI handling committee and rampancy detection, was responsible for making sure that local AI stayed healthy for their entire lifetimes, keep said health within standard deviations. As a reward for his commitment to many projects concerning AI, he was elected as the first ONI scientist located in Arcadia to try to make a fully smart AI, just as Halsey plans to do with making Cortana on another human planet._

_On Allison's part, it was her responsibility to make sure that there was minimum to zero level of insurrectionist activity within Mu, the continent that Pirth City resides in. She was a lucky UNSC captain today, for the insurrectionists had pulled out for reasons unknown, and had openly declared that they would not be returning to Arcadia. Now she didn't have to worry about her family's safety._

_Leonard was 34 years of age and Allison was 32. Both were rather skilled in their respective fields, so they were paid with a very stable income. They were going to use the extra funds that they received to try to make an even more special day for Calvin. Eventually, all of the Churches went home after a long day of school and work. They sat down at their dinner table to discuss their exploits, and bond even more by celebrating Calvin's birthday._

_But as they laughed, and as the night went on, all of the citizens of Arcadia saw multiple beams of purple light. At first they thought it was a meteor shower, as unexpected as it may have been. But with more thorough investigation from ONI, they soon discovered that this was not so. This was no ordinary meteor shower. This was an alien invasion. The enemy had found them. The Covenant had arrived. _

_ For reasons unknown to the Humans, the Covenant had decided to attack Pirth City. The local police were not enough to even put a small dent into the massive armies of the Covenant. The UNSC sent all local armies deployed there to try to help fend off the Covenant attack and buy time for reinforcements from other human planets to come and assist them. They had to hold off for three days and near the end of the third day, hope had arrived in the form of the UNSC "Spirit of Fire."_

_ Unfortunately it was nearly too late for the remaining humans to try to escape from the city. Only three transports remained, and one was almost destroyed. Only a few more thousand civilians could be rescues. After that then it would have been over for Pirth City, and within time, the whole of Arcadia would be destroyed. The last line of defense…was Captain Allison Church and her battalion._

_ She had ordered her lieutenant to find her family and take them on the safest transport that could get them out of there. Her lieutenant managed to reunite Leonard Church and Carol, but Calvin had gotten separated during the attack, and had struggled to survive, hiding behind rubble to stay alive, and searching empty homes in search of food. After searching for as long as he could, he found the last transport, only to see it flying away._

_ But this newsflash was not what drew Calvin's attention. What drew his attention was what they Covenant did to human corpses after killing them. They prepared pyres and burned them until there were no traces of humans left, as if there were never any humans to begin with. But while most humans were burned while dead…Allison was burned alive._

_ She received this punishment for defying the Covenant of immediate victory with her victories of defending the city. The ones that had looked like big ape-like creatures were especially cruel to her. They tortured her until she no longer was sane and, in her poor state of mind, burned herself alive. This form of punishment set off Calvin, and he wept for the night…_

_The next morning…_

_ It has been a day since the evacuation of the city. Calvin was officially the last human of Pirth City. This isolation drove him to starve himself to death, for he had nothing left. While he was wallowing in his self-pity, a patrol of short-triangular creatures, led a tall lizard-like creature, found him. The small ones were about to fire upon him, but seeing a youngling human in this poor state drove the tall one to pity the boy. And so he sliced down his own soldiers before they could rain plasma on him._

_ The boy himself had closed his eyes bracing himself for death, but all he heard was a slice of energy cutting off limbs. After realizing that he would not be killed immediately, he opened his eyes only to find five dead short creatures, and the lizard one looking down at him with a handful of salvaged food. After a moment of silence, he hesitantly took the food and proceeded to eat._

_ For a while, the two very different beings only looked at each other until the boy decided to ask some questions…_

"_Why did you save me?" This would only be the beginning of his confusion, as this has never happened before._

"_I don't know, young one. By all orders I should have killed you, human. But after seeing a so small a whelp like yourself in pain, I turned to my sense of honour and nobility and was then moved into pity." This one's voice, unlike the other one, was very low and deep. And it had some kind of wisdom in it._

"_Please…kill me. I have nothing left."_

"_You still have your life."_

"_I don't care! I lost everything, please kill me."_

_If the lizard-like creature had only been curious, he was sure to feel sorrow for the boy by then. No life form should have to beg for death._

"_What of your family? Surely they would miss you more than anything."_

"_They're gone. Mommy's dead and Daddy and Sister had unwillingly left."_

"_They wished that you could come with them."_

"_The…they didn't even know I was missing until it was too late."_

"_By the rings…I am sorry."_

"_Sorry! Mommy and Daddy said you were the…"_

"_The enemy. In most circumstances you would be correct. The Covenant as a whole have made enemies of the humans, but for now I do not wish to be your enemy."_

"_Why?..."_

"_Why, what?"_

"_Why…everything? Why are we bad guys of you? Why help me?"_

"_If you are wondering why Humanity and The Covenant are at war…this I do not fully know, for such information concerns our prophets alone. But if you wonder why I help you, it is that my people only slay warriors our equal, thus allowing us the right to claim who is the superior one. You are a youngling, thus I will not kill you. Perhaps if you had been a well-trained soldier I would. But not now."_

"_Your people?"_

"_Yes. My kind are called Sangheili, as you humans call them Elites for our more professional combat prowess."_

"_What about those big ape things tha…that…"_

"_That drove your mother to burn herself alive. Those things are called Jiralhanae in our tongue, though you now known as Brutes, which I find rather accurate."_

"_Why did they have to torture her, Mister Elite? Mommy never did anything wrong to them. She didn't…"_

"_Youngling, they are called Brutes for a reason. They are well known for their barbaric tendencies. While those brutes and my own people are at war with you and share a similar drive to wipe you out, we are opposites in almost every way."_

"_Would you have burned her?"_

"…_no. My own squad would have given her some form of rites of passage, such as it could have been."_

"_Mommy was a tough mom. How could she ha…have…" He could speak anymore as soon as the memory returned to him and left him in a weeping state._

"_She was a capable soldier, I grant you that boy. But ultimately she failed in her attempt to take our Arbiter hostage in the hopes of getting all the remaining humans out alive. She almost succeeded but was struck in the back of the head by Sangheili guards. I was Second-in-Command so I was there to see it."_

_After seeing that the Boy remained silent, he correctly assumed that he wanted him to continue._

"_You already saw what happened, but not in full detail, so I shall tell you. My master, Arbiter Ripa 'Moramee had decided as punishment for the human's defiance, the woman would be sent to the brutes for them to do as they wished knowing what they would do. After they made her burn herself alive, they ordered that the alien known as a Huragok, or Engineer, experiment on her corpse."_

"_They…tore apart her body."_

"_Yes. I am sorry."_

"_I…I hate them! I hate The Covenant!"_

"_Not so loud foolish one! We may be alone for now but with that volume, the other Covenant forces will surely discover you and dispose of you."_

"_Sorry…"_

"_It is fine. I can see why you would be horribly upset…But what if I told you there was a way that I could help you reunite with your family?"_

"_How?"_

"_Pirth City may be destroyed, but the rest of Arcadia is still standing. The Covenant is actually pulling out of the system within three days, which means security will be at its lightest, allowing us maximum mobility across the planet. There is also an abandoned Deep Space Research Array that still has one UNSC ship capable of slip-space travel. It is in Avalon, not far from Pirth City, and the AI that was stationed there has not yet left and can drive you to another human planet until you can find the right people to take you back to your family."_

"_Will you be coming with me?"_

"_I am sorry, but after I deliver off planet I must return to The Covenant to continue the war. I will not be able to help you from there on out, and we might not be able to meet again."_

"_But I…I…"_

"_I thank you for your gratitude but it is better this way."_

"_Okay Mister Elite."_

"_Mister Elite…would it make you feel less alone if we referred to each other by name instead of species?"_

"_Yeah…thanks. I'm Calvin. Calvin Church. My friends used to call me Cal."_

"_Cal…well Cal. I am Thel 'Vadamee."_

_This name the boy would remember, because this was the worst experience that he would face. Ever. Of all time._

AN: Hi guys, mrwinner here. I decided to make a dual chapter intermission for day one of the three-day period. It gives me enough room to fully flesh out the OC and make him seem more complete. I also decided to try to combine Halo with red vs. blue since rvb uses halo engines and keep it as cannon as I can.

And again. Reviews please! Seriously, whoever has favourited this story and following, please leave reviews.


	13. Chapter 13: But Memory isn't always good

AN: _(The Flashback will be in third-person mode and end partway through the chapter)_

Years before Project Freelancer

Chapter Nine: But not all things locked are meant to be unlocked…_(Flashback: Part 2) _(Day 1: Part 4)

_Three days it has been since the beginning of their journey to the Research Array, and they were almost out of time. As second-in-command of the local Covenant forces, Thel was well aware of which routes to take, and when to move. Thel and Cal had taken to the rooftops by an abandoned Phantom, carefully choosing which buildings to pass by and which ones to avoid. On occasion, they would descend to ground level to search for whatever food they could find._

_It was late in the afternoon, getting closer to the evening. At this point, more and more squadrons had been searching for Thel since it was almost time for them to leave. Which meant it was more difficult for the two to travel in secret. They were about to give up and as Thel was considering a back-up plan, an unknown AI contacted them, telling them that they were in a restricted area. Which meant they finally made it to the Research Array._

_Thel contacted the AI and told them about what happened these past few days. The AI only allowed them to enter the array due to the mention of "Church" since it did serve their family for a long while. The AI, also known as Alpha, was actually handed to the churches for a special project and has been serving for five years at the time, so he was all ready to bring Calvin back home on the UNSC frigate. Meanwhile, Thel and Cal had their last talk._

"_Cal…do you still remember the death of your mother?"_

"_It's only been three days Thel! Why do you keep reminding me of…o…"_

"_I'm sorry that this memory pains you so much. But I remind you so that you may never forget. Because you may be the only one who fully remembers what has happened."_

"_Why can't I just tell Carol, and Dad? They can know and remember for me."_

"_Because Cal, while you can tell them, and have them know, they could never be able to fully understand nor realize the great pain that her death would cause in the future."_

"_I don't understand. What do you mean?"_

"_Calvin Church….I once slew an elder of my own house who sent a trio of assassins to kill me. While I was not particularly attached to him, I sent his entire bloodline into exile. And this still lingers in my mind as a guilt."_

"_I don't see how renouncing family could help us."_

"…_You may yet end up renouncing your own mother before the end."_

"_What!? But how could…how could I ever renounce her?"_

"_Because her death may end up wracking you family's lives with grief. Such an intense grief will surely cause consequences that may yet tear your family apart."_

"_But my father…my sister…"_

"_Your sister might not suffer as much repercussion as I fear. But I sense that both of you will be indirect targets of you father's grief."_

"_Dad is a strong man."_

"_No! He is an intelligent man and there is a great difference. While he has some form of wisdom and knowledge, from what I've seen, he is an unstable man. And he held her dearest. When he realizes that she died, his grief will consume him."_

"_If I can't trust my dad…who else can I trust?"_

"_You must trust yourself. Trust your own strength."_

"_And how can I do that?"_

_"Remember, Memory is the key. But while Memory may be the key, not all things that are locked are meant to be unlocked."_

"_I'll remember that."_

"_Good. Very good…Cal, we're here. Why don't you take a look through the cockpit."_

"_Okay Thel."_

_As the Phantom got closer to the frigate, Alpha opened the docking bay to let them inside and turned on the engines and did his calculations._

"_Okay! Well, I just ran everything again. All calculations are up to date, taking into account standard delays for communication and response time. Our window looks good!"_

"_Thank you Alpha. Dad said that were you were smart."_

"_Well you should thank me. From what I've heard from Leonard, I'm sure you would have made the same calculations. It just might have taken a bit longer."_

"_Alpha!"_

"_Oh don't give a lecture, Elite. Besides don't you have to report back to your nutjob bosses?"_

"_Just get the boy home, Alpha."_

"_Yeah, yeah. Way ahead of you buddy. I've started running the slipspace drive."_

_And after three months of travelling, Alpha and Cal went into slipspace and met the others back on Reach. Cal had asked the that Leonard Church may be able to see what happened and figure out what to do from there on out. The UNSC gave sympathies to the Churches due to the Doctor's former ONI work, and gave him the funds to start a new project. Project Freelancer._

_Eventually, the UNSC sent over the Counselor to advise the four for the duration of the project. Cal and Carol eventually became the two best freelancers, Agents California and Carolina respectively. And took red Hayabusan __**(Halo 3 style) **__to make himself less approachable in order to avoid attachments. But he still found friendship…and obsession._

_End of flashback_

"Cal…Cal…CAL!?"

"Oh, uh Carolina I didn't see you there. Did you need something in particular?"

"Not quite. I was just on my way to the training arena when I heard you muttering to yourself."

"I guess I do that a lot nowadays." And this was pretty true. Ever since the two reminders of the past came back, to me I had started to plot, trying to figure out what to do as if everything was about to fall apart. All of my problems, and my sister, began with…

"You know, you should try to stay away from Agent Texas."

"Why? I know she does not work well with others, but I don't think that her position is entirel…"

"Her position!? Open your fucking eyes brother. That lying b… she is getting special treatment from our own father. If that isn't an indication that we should watch out for her, then I don't know what."

"Sister I know that she gets special treatment but I don't think it's entirely up to her."

"Your right. It isn't, and that's what makes it even more ridiculous."

"I think you're over-reacting."

"No, she is threatening us, and I won't let her tear everything we worked for apart."

"Carolina! Please, let me explain what I suspect."

"Fine…explain then."

"…Do you remember what I told you, about how someone saved my life back one Arcadia?"

"All you said was that a nice Elite managed to get you off planet and that the Alpha drove you back home."

"The Alpha…I remember he was the AI that worked along side us for sixteen years now."

"Yes, but what would that…wait a minute…that's nine years past normal smart AI rampancy. How could the Alpha be sane for that long?"

"Maybe there's more to the Alpha than we know. Look, the Elite told me that…Allison's death would eventually have something to do with us. And C.T. told me that a shadow from the past would appear."

"You're starting act insane yourself…and not the normal kind."

"Allison and Tex…Tex and Allison…Carolina."

"What is it?"

"There is something going on, something all of us are in the dark of. I have a feeling that this is exactly what the director wants me for."

"Only for you to not be able to tell anyone in the freelancer program. Or maybe anyone ever for that matter."

"Anyone in the freelancer program perhaps…but there may yet be someone who knows powerful people outside the program who can help us."

"C.T."

"Yes…I'm going to have to talk to her tomorrow about some things. Maybe she has similar suspicions like we do."

"You know this is going to increase dissension among the freelancers right?"

"It's a risk that I'm going to have to take. I'm going to accept the director's offer and become his new…lapdog."

"A lapdog eh…doesn't sound so dignifying."

"Maybe, but it will be worth it I promise you."

"Fine, but if something happens I'm talking to the director myself."

"Of course…and sister."

"Yeah?"

"Could you please try to get along with Texas? She isn't that bad, once you get to know her."

"That's not going to happen. Ever!"

"So be it, Agent Carolina."

"I'll meet you again, Agent California."

After we parted ways, I continued my way into the training arena while Carolina decided she was finally going to go to the mess hall, probably to let out some steam and confide with York. I hope he can help her…because now I don't know if I can, now that I'm the director's assistant. After a while I made it to the arena and contacted FILSS about preparing a melee combat scenario simulation. But first…

"FILSS, mind if we chat again."

"_Of course not California. You know I like enjoying time with you."_

"Please try not to take it too far, okay FILSS?"

"_Certainly. How may I help you?"_

"Well, right now, I need help on a lot of things, but I don't think you could help me."

"_Really, why not? I'd always try to be able to help you to the best of my ability…so long as it is within my programming."_

"Trust me. A lot of these things are personal matter."

"_Okay…where would you like me to begin."_

"Can you run a scan on the Alpha? Search for everything about him from creation to shutdown. I need to know how long he's been missing."

"_Oh my, that does seem to be a big concern nowadays. Normally that is classified information, but since you will become the new AI handler…"_

"Wait a minute?! AI handler?"

"_I looked into your files and found that the director had classified you as an AI handler if you accepted your new position, which you did a moment ago."_

"That's actually a good thing in this case. This will make it easier for me to get information."

"_It sure would. Now about the Alpha AI…how strange. The Alpha hasn't just been absent for the past seven hours, he has been missing for an entire year now."_

"WHAT!? But h—he's an extremely powerful asset to this entire program. All year…this is serious."

"_It is. Is that all you would like to know?"_

"So far. But for now, I just want you to run the melee tutorial program. I need to get in some practice with my energy sword before going into the field."

"_I would be happy to assist. I would like to recommend special ops elites and heavy-duty insurrectionists as recommended targets for an energy sword. I would also like to note that while targets neutralized in simulation combat won't drain plasma charge, using the sword on live troopers will and will take away ten percent of the charge per life taken."_

"Duly noted. I'll find a way to keep charge while off duty."

"_Very well, let's begin the tutorial program."_

At the start of the tutorial, there were three heavy-duty insurrectionist troopers. This was just the first level, so all I had to do was focus on dodging projectiles from shotguns and handling my sword. They were also pretty slow which made it easier to lunge with the sword.

After that level was over, then the second level began. This time I was fighting Spec Ops Elites equipped with energy swords. They were a little bit faster and more agile. This was so that I could improve my skills in basic swordplay instead of just trying to attack from behind to avoid shots from any weaponry.

On the third level, I ended up fighting both versions, each type of soldier was equipped with a secondary weapon. The three elites had plasma pistols and an energy sword. And the three heavy-duties had pistols along with their shotguns. And on top of that, they were smarter. The numbers generally stayed the same for each level.

But from that point on, on every even numbered level, enemies would be faster, more agile, and more intelligent. And on every odd numbered lever, enemies would become stronger in health, higher in ranking (which meant an even greater increase in difficulty) and another added variable, which was always random. Said variable went from dual secondary pistols to a new member of each version to coordination between the two teams. Fortunately, every round I completed allowed me another minute and a half on my five-minute default from the beginning of the tutorial.

I managed to get up to round twelve before getting hit once, by then, the enemies were really starting to beat down on me. Everyone had dual pistols, I was fighting Ultras **(Elites) **those damned maroon-trimmed insurrectionists. The elites even had dual swords and the maroon ones had grenades.

Eventually, I got to round twenty before I got hit two more times, reaching the maximum amount of hits I was allowed to take before the tutorial program closed. It ended up closing on round 22, which I thought was surprisingly good since this was my first time. Now I could take on someone as skilled as an elite Zealot. And have a 75% chance of succeeding in melee combat.

I must have been training for hours on end, because it was ten at night, and I started at three in the afternoon. I must have been like a fucking Jedi. Aside from one-on-one swordplay, I could deflect plasma shots, throw and retrieve one sword at a time from 50 feet, cut through any material twirl my swords at a rapid pace, assassinate enemy troopers undetected, etc.

I think now would be a good time to get some shut-eye. And I think I'll put this into my logs later on some other time. For now, I gotta spend the night preparing for tomorrow. So I went to my room and then everything went black.

Day two…here we come.


	14. Chapter 14: Nightmares and Swordplay

_As Agent California was sleeping in his dorm, he first saw nothing but blackness. It was probably just the environment the "Mother of Invention" was in…or so he thought. His dreams soon turned to what used to be Pirth City. He thought that he was just remembering pained memories and that this was a reminder of what could happen due to his failures. But what happened next was something that even he did not expect._

_Eventually he saw his dead mother, still alive before she died. He saw Allison. At first he loved hearing about his mother. How her work progressed, how happy she is. But then he realized that she was dead. This memory was only amplified with the burning of his home city. With the Covenant appearing to be unstoppable and invincible. He saw her burn herself to death. Unfortunately, what happened to her then angered him more than anything else._

_A Hurugok. Engineers they're called by his race. This creature was experimenting on his mother, lacerating everything of her and not even taking the care to take her in a non-combat environment. The Hurugok even used her limbs to give to the brutes as trophies to play with. This was a disgrace for California, and he hated it for what it did. The Hurugok, all of its kind would be victim to California's rage. Yet even with this his focus was turned to some other event._

_ California and his father and sister were all sending off a good-bye to Allison for the day. This was the same day that she died but earlier in the morning. Leonard had been examining an experimental weapon when Allison told him to __**"Stop it. Put that thing down."**__ Leonard had remained distracted for a little while longer, longer than Allison would have like. She continued to tell __**"Leonard, come on, stop it."**_

_Eventually Leonard complied, and Allison let the three know that __**"You're going to make me late." **__They understood what was going on. So they continued their send-off. As Allison board the Pelican, she told them __**"I have to go."**__ When Calvin asked if they should say good-bye in case they wouldn't see each other, she simply said, __**"Don't say good-bye. I hate good byes." **__This reassurance made him believe that they would meet again. She couldn't have been more wrong…_

_The image then switched over to more recent times. California saw everything that had happened recently. He saw his sister, himself, the Director and even…Agent Texas. Why he began to have visions of Tex, he didn't know. But he saw the two fighting, possibly to the death. Near the end of their 'dual' he saw Agent Texas gain the edge and almost kill Carolina. As she was about to do so, the reactor of the "Mother of Invention" malfunctioned and sent the ship crashing down on a planet. As it crashed it blacked and…_

"DAMN!" Oh…it was just another one of those 'dreams' I've been having. Oh my god.

AN: That first part was like a prologue. This will make sense in the future but from this point the real chapter will begin.

Many Years Ago…

Chapter Ten:

Χειριστής Σπαθί των αστεριών (Cheiristís Spathí ton asterión)

(Day 2: Part 1)

Since I woke up from my nightmare, I decided to check my clock to see what time it was. 5:00 AM. Damn it. Not again. I really need to get some more sleep every night. This is the third time altogether I woke up this early. The first time was fine since I was headed to Wyoming and Maine, but this was something else. I wonder if I woke up any one else with that scream of mine. Probably did, I'd be lucky if I didn't. Although I suppose I could use the privacy for what I'm going to be doing for the day.

Since I was awake this early, I decided to head over to the training room to further practice my sword wielding and let out some steam. I know the training room is closed at this hour of the morning, but I think that I could pull 'rank' and be able to get in anyways. Yeah, yeah I know that sounds selfish but hey, I need this practice.

After I made my way to the training room I woke up FILSS and told her my 'activities' for the day. But first…_"Halt, only emergency personal and staff members are allowed to patrol the 'Mother of Invention' during night hours, which range from 10:00 PM to 7:00 AM. I am going to have to ask you to return to your quarters or else I'll have to use deadly forc…"_

"FILLS. It's me California. You know, AI handler apparently, brother of Carolina, etc. etc."

"_Oh, well hello California. I did not expect you to already be 'out and about' as you humans put it. Being an AI handler actually does give you some 'leeway' as the director puts it, but he advises you not to abuse the privilege."_

"How did he come to know this already? I had only planned to tell him after tomorrow."

"_Since you already made your decision yesterday, I deemed it necessary to tell the director in order to sooner complete the objective assigned to you."_

"Jesus FILSS, not everything is an objective. The director was simply giving me some time to make a choice. And you know I don't like it when other people, or AI, speak for me when I'm not there. I prefer speaking for myself in situations concerning myself."

"_Oh. I apologize, I was simply trying to aid you in helping you get ready for your future respon…"_

"It's fine FILSS. It was going to happen anyways, and I don't think I could hide my decision from the director for very long."

"_Of course California."_

"FILSS, I'm in the training room. Do you think you could run some combat simulations so that I could practice my melee combat proficiency?"

"_You know that training matches are not allowed in the training room unless the director authorizes it for a test, right?"_

"FILSS, this isn't a test. This is just for practice."

"_Oh, well then in this case, I most certainly can. Where would you like to begin with today's training?"_

"Let's start out with three easy level Special Ops Elites. After I defeat them, increase the difficulty by one level."

"_Certainly."_

This seemed like a good place to start. Even on easy level, special ops elites are tricky to kill, thought not impossible. It took me about ten minutes until I could defeat them all, though I had to admit that FILSS made them a lot more agile and intelligent than I thought. Good, that's going to make me even more awesome.

They came again for the next half an hour, once on medium and then again on hard. By the time the hard level was activated, I had to dodge not just energy sword swipes but also grenades and plasma fire. It looked like FILLS not only made the simulation elites more agile and intelligent per round, but also add weapons as variables.

At this point FILSS asked if I'd like to take a break, but I wanted to keep going with the training. She then added two more elites to the match to go against me. Dear god I can't believe that I asked for th…actually scratch that, I can believe I asked for this. I tend to have a lot of crazy ideas whenever I'm in combat. Adding to the craziness, it took another hour and a half until I could get up to the medium level of special ops elites.

By the time they were this hard, they could shot dual plasma rifles at me, had all of their sword tricks, including a jump assassination, could throw two plasma grenades at a time, and on top of that, they were twice as strong, five times as intelligent, three times as agile, and four times as fast. I should have been exhausted by now, but sooo much adrenaline was pumping in me. I must have been really into this swordplay.

All this time, I had been keeping my balance, sticking to counters so that I would not be caught off guard. I kept my sword close to me so that I would loose it in case I dropped my sword when I extended my arm. These were energy swords, so it's easy and fast to draw them, but I still had to be quick. And watch my back a lot. My god, I'm surprised that I'm a natural at this. Then again, my sister's a natural at martial arts, so this makes a little bit more sense.

Now it's taken me a total of 2 hours and ten minutes since five in the morning to be able to defeat five medium level special ops elites. I was allowed to get hit five times during the training session before I was kicked out of the training room, and I got hit twice. I was so close to defeating the last elite before being able to move on to the hard ones when the elite cloaked and went so fast I couldn't even blink before he tagged me in the back. Damn it!

Well I defeated it soon afterwards. From here on out it took me 2 hours and 40 minutes, and two more tags until I got to the last round! Five Zealots, all of them with dual plasma rifles, four plasma grenades, dual energy swords. Just one of them could defeat at least one of the top five freelancers in the entire program. If could even defeat two before receiving my final tag, I'd call it one hell of an accomplishment. I couldn't possibly defeat all five of them

But then I remembered why I was here in the first place. It wasn't just to train, it was that I couldn't sleep. And I couldn't sleep because of…Texas. The thought of her just being on the same ship as I am, that she's just out to take away Carolina's place…god damn it all. Damn you Texas!

The thought of her just boiled my blood into complete rage. When I started thinking about her, I started just slashing and hacking at anything in my way. These elites were nothing compared to her. God damn it when I'm ready, I will beat them both. Carolina and Texas won't think themselves the best for long when I'm through with them. And then I realized I snapped and dropped my guard enough to get tagged the last time. Three Zealots were dissipated.

I was exhausted from the training simulations, and I must say that I think I did a great job. I wanted to assess what new skills I have learned and which ones I improved on, but I was close to passing out, so I couldn't make a good review. I need FILSS to…

"FILSS...ca…can you…"

"_Agent California, you should take a moment to get some rest. I will send a request for some health food from the mess hall and fluids to help hydrate your body."_

"Th…thanks FILS…"

Five minutes later…

As I woke up from my unconsciousness, I noticed a familiar doctor standing over me with a mobile computer screen representing FILSS. They had with them some food and drinks. Thank god, that's what I needed for the moment.

"Agent California, here's some fruits and juice to help you gain some energy and nutrition."

"Thanks Dr. Harvey."

"Lord, you must have had some insane idea to go through some intense training without waiting to get some breakfast digested in your stomach."

"_I must agree with Dr. Harvey, California. But to be fair Doctor, he was psychologically restless and was unable to focus on his personal health."_

"I could tell. Look, just make sure you don't jeopardize your health again. You'll be needed back on the field sooner than you think."

"Sooner than I think? The director said that I won't be attending as many missions as I did due to my new profession."

"Key words being 'as many.' You'll still be on the more important missions, unlike those other freelancers spread throughout the galaxy."

"How did you know?"

"When FILSS told the director, the counsellor leaked this information to every single freelancer that was aboard the ship. Every other freelancer is still in the dark of what's happening."

"I see. Is that all?"

"Other than me telling you to be concerned about your health, yes. Now if you excuse me, I must attend to Wyoming and Maine."

"Of course doctor."

After he left, FILSS and I went over what I learned in the training room and new abilities I picked up. "FILSS, analyse all previously learned sword skills and new abilities."

"_I would be happy to assist. Yesterday you learned basic energy sword melee techniques, deflection of plasma fire, assassination methods, throw and retrieval of sword from 50 ft., material cutting, and as a result had a 75% success of defeating an Elite Zealot in Energy Sword melee combat."_

"And how about today?"

"_Today, you learned how to wield two energy swords at once, jump striking, disarmament, counter-strike, throw and retrieval of sword at 75 ft., connecting two swords at once at the base of the hilts, dodging, counter-assassination, and as a result of today's training session you have increased your chances of defeating an Elite Zealot by 10%."_

"Hot damn FILSS. How does that compare to insurrectionists?"

"_Against standard troopers, you would be able to dodge enemy bullets due to your substantial increase in agility and deflect human bullets easily to the weakness of metal against an Energy Sword. By rapidly twirling your blades you also demoralize the enemy through flashing yet effective techniques." ___

"What about the high-ranks ones?"

"_You will easily defeat the insurrectionists dubbed 'the sleeveless soldier' due to his use of C.Q.C. as his primary fighting technique and is rather lacking in agility. 'Girlie' has skills similar to Carolina, so she will be a bit more difficult to defeat. But you should be able to manage."_

'Thanks."

"_There has also been reports of chain-gunners, so you will not be able to get close enough to them in order to use you're swords effectively. I would also like to note that their Snipers will also shoot you down before you could reach them with your sword."_

"Thank you FILSS. Look, I have some things I need to take care of by myself. I'm going to meet with the other freelancers for a while and then let them know what's going on. It's time."

"_I understand Agent California. And I have taken the liberty of recording all of your activities into your journal to the best of my knowledge."_

"It would appear that I have much to thank you for FILSS. Can you continue recording my 'activities' in my journal? Something tells me that I'll be very busy once I start my new responsibilities."

"_I most certainly can. And Cal?"_

"Yeah?"

"_Good luck with your…responsibilities."_

"I…yeah. See you later."

It looks like now I've got a lot of things I need to do before I can meet with the director, although I suppose that was a given. Now…who shall my spies be?

AN: Hi guys, I just wanted to say it's good writing again after a week. I've been busy dealing with work, so I haven't been able to write as much as I'd like.

In case you guys don't understand Greek, the chapter title is a literal translation for "Sword Handler of the Stars." I used Google translate so it's not entirely correct, only word-by-word.

But yeah I think this story is going to work out pretty well. If you guys are wondering if he's too Gary-Stu or not (Meaning to perfect) I can understand. But don't worry. Everything will make sense. In the meantime, read, review, comment, anything you'd like would make me happy.


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